text:
Mayor 'Plong' hopes Sta. Catalina be nominated anew for 'Seal' award
Mayor 'Plong' hopes Sta. Catalina be nominated anew for 'Seal' award (photo by Edward B. Antonio)
by Edward B. AntonioPosted on August 20, 2018 January 20, 2019
STA. CATALINA, Ilocos Sur – Mayor Edgar 'Plong' Rapanut of this town has high hopes his town will be included anew among the 2018 recommendees for validation for the prestigious "Seal of Good Governance Award" as he enumerated the various projects his administration is in to during a press interview at his office by the members of the Ilocos Sur Integrated Press over the weekend.
Sta. Catalina is a recipient of the "Seal" award last year.
"Actually, there are more criteria now," he said. "One, the municipal government must be friendly with all PWDs; there must be signboards for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management or DRRM; good financial housekeeping; and the additional criterion is that the town must have its own garbage disposal area or landfill, which we do not have. But hopefully, we will be able to sign a MOA with Narvacan that we can dispose our garbage there."
He said that the town's MDRRMC is 100% prepared to respond to any disaster incident and that its model 3-storey evacuation center is ready to accommodate 200 families.
"This is not an ordinary evacuation center," he said. "There is a cooking area, couple's room, place for nursing mothers and can withstand an earthquake up to magnitude 8 or even a Yolanda-strong typhoon."
He also announced the near completion of the construction of the seawall along the coastal barangay towns and the ongoing construction of the coastal road that would connect the coastal towns in the 1st district of the province.
"Sta. Catalina is a coastal town below the sea level," he said. "That's why we have to be prepared all the time. Our 2018 seawall project will be finished on or before October 2018 and the destroyed portion has been repaired and made higher so as to prevent the big waves from getting over the sea wall."
In agriculture, he said that the town's venture on tobacco production "is okay but still needs polishing."
"I did not know that tobacco planting is chemical intensive. However, we will continue planting tobacco until we have perfected the art using our RA 7171 funds. We learn through experience."
Sta. Catalina has long been declared as "salty" for tobacco production that's why the town has shifted to vegetable farming hence its moniker as the "Vegetable Bowl of the North." But its vegetable business has its up's and down's that's why Rapanut said they tried planting tobacco as alternative.
"Hopefully, we can perfect our production next time for a higher yield," he said.
In infrastructure, aside from its seawall project, Rapanut said that the "baywalk" project will be starting soon, as he has already talked with the barangay people affected.
"But our funds for the baywalk project has been used muna for our drainage projects and covered court of the barangays which are the more immediate needs of the people," he said.
In its anti-drug campaign, he said that recently, some people were arrested during drug buy-bust operations but he refused to further elaborate.
"The arrested people have talked but I don't want to mention the personalities they indicted as I don't want to be accused of politicking. Let the PDEA and the PNP do their job," he said.
In social services, he said that the LGU is giving out P2,000 death aid to affected families regardless of status in life and also P2,000 as sickness aid to the people.
"But I want to make it clear that the money does not come from me. It comes from the LGU," he said.
He also announced that the issue on Sitio Namnama in Barangay Tamurong, between Sta. Catalina and San Vicente has already been settled.
"We have agreed with Mayor Tabanda that we will come out with a map that would define our boundaries," he said.
Lately, Mayor "Plong" has been appointed as consultant in the expansion project of the Vigan Airport in Barangay Mindoro.
"I'm just an emissary representing Congressman DV Savellano, Governor Ryan Singson and former Governor Chavit Singson for the speedy facilitation of the project which is composed of runway widening and extension and the acquisition of some 6 hectares for the Vigan Airport Development Program. It's a long and tedious project through the DPWH but it's moving."
He said he has also stuck to his promise to keep all employees intact, removing nobody from office whether they voted for him or not in 2016.
"Awan ti inik-ikkatko wenno naag-agrabiado, (I did not terminate or degraded anybody) because they also have their own families. They have their security of tenures. What I did was to reassign some to their field of interest or talent," he said.
The mayor, who is fondly called by his constituents as "masang-masa ang dating," is the son of the late Porfirio "Ompeng" Rapanut, a long-time mayor of this town. His wife, also a CPA like him, is the Vice President of the Land Bank of the Philippines based in Manila and they have two children. (Edward B. Antonio)
Posted in Latest NewsTagged #ilocossur, #santacatalina, Edgar 'Plong' Rapanut


text:
Gathering seashells from ISIS
Not since the Roman Emperor Caius -- better known as Caligula -- ordered his legionaries to collect seashells as spoils of his war with Neptune has the leader of a major world power waged as laughable a military campaign as Obama is waging against ISIS. Max Boot:
RAND's Benjamin Lambeth summed up the Afghan air campaign as follows: "[D]uring the 75 days of bombing between October 7, when Enduring Freedom began, and December 23, when the first phase of the war ended after the collapse of the Taliban, some 6,500 strike sorties were flown by CENTCOM forces altogether, out of which approximately 17,500 munitions were dropped on more than 120 fixes targets, 400 vehicles and artillery pieces, and a profusion of concentrations of Taliban and al Qaeda combatants."
Now compare with the statistics on the current U.S. aerial bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria. According to Central Command, in the 59 days between August 8, when the campaign started, and October 6, the U.S. has conducted 360 strikes utilizing 955 munitions.
That's a big difference between dropping 17,500 munitions in Afghanistan and 955 in Iraq/Syria. So rare are U.S. strikes today that Centcom has actually taken to issuing press releases to announce the dropping of two 500-pound bombs.
The bare numbers understate the actual difference, moreover, because the U.S. was dropping heavier bombs from heavier aircraft such as the B-52 in Afghanistan which have so far not been utilized in Iraq/Syria. Moreover, the effect of strikes in Iraq/Syria is not as great because Obama has refused U.S. Special Operations personnel permission to go out into the field alongside indigenous forces to call in airstrikes as they did so effectively alongside the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. This is to say nothing of the fact that in neither Iraq nor Syria is there a ground force as effective and organized as the Northern Alliance capable of taking advantage of U.S. airstrikes to attack ISIS on the ground.
Why are we not putting more into this? As Boot explains, "[T]he lack of will exhibited by the commander in chief who has claimed as his goal the eventual destruction of ISIS but refuses to commit the resources necessary to achieve that ambitious objective."
Power Line's Paul Mirengoff agrees:
Perhaps other reporting will show that our air attacks were more substantial than what the military has revealed so far.
Or perhaps we will learn that a more aggressive, more constant assault on ISIS from the air was not feasible. But as of now, it appears that the air attacks were sporadic and that a substantial opportunity to degrade ISIS (to the extent that it can be degraded from the air) was squandered.
If so, this would be consistent with our concern that Obama's "war" against ISIS may represent no more than an unserious attempt to "check a box" for political purposes before the upcoming election.
In any event, Obama's decision not to deploy ground troops makes his "war" on ISIS problematic enough. If, in addition, his air campaign is to be half-hearted, the effort becomes a bad joke.
Almost as bad as Caligula's seashells.
Posted by Jeff Cox at 10/10/2014 07:37:00 PM No comments: Links to this post
Death by Multiculturalism
Bill Gertz in the Washington Free Beacon has an outstanding piece (as usual) describing how Obama is surrendering in the philosophical war against ISIS and Islamism in general:
The Obama administration is failing to wage ideological war against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) terrorists over fears that attacking its religious philosophy will violate the constitutional divide between church and state, according to an in-depth inquiry by the Washington Free Beacon.
Instead, the task of countering what President Obama called the "warped ideology" of ISIL is being farmed out to foreign states and Muslim communities that often share some of the same goals as the groups the administration calls violent extremists. This approach allows the administration to avoid identifying links between terrorism and Islam.
"While the government has tried to counter terrorist propaganda, it cannot directly address the warped religious interpretations of groups like ISIL because of the constitutional separation of church and state," said Quintan Wiktorowicz, a former White House counterterrorism strategist for the Obama administration.
"U.S. officials are prohibited from engaging in debates about Islam, and as a result will need to rely on partners in the Muslim world for this part of the ideological struggle," he said in an email interview.
Obama announced last month for the first time that his new counterterrorism strategy includes programs aimed at countering ISIL's ideology. But a review of administration efforts shows very little—if anything—is being done to defeat or destroy the terrorist group's religious ideology in a war of ideas.
This is the result of a fundamental -- and perhaps willful -- misunderstanding of Islam. Forget for the moment the violence being perpetrated in the name of Islam right now. There are two fundamental truths about Islam that non-Muslims frequently do not understand:
1. Of the Abrahamic faiths, whereas the Bible and the Torah are viewed by their adherents as a collection of stories that reveal the Word of God -- this is something of an oversimplification, but you get the idea -- but Muslims view the Qur'an as the literal Word of Allah. As in, the words in the Qur'an were exactly those spoken by Allah to Muhammad. That's it. No room for reinterpretation.
2. The Christian Bible has specific invocations (i.e. "Render unto Caesar") for the separation of Church and State. There is no such separation in Islam. Islam is to be an all-encompassing philosophy. Put simply, Islam is not and has never been "just" a "religion" - it is and always has been a political movement as well.
This is why our First Amendment guarantees of freedom of religion and freedom of speech don't quite match up with Islam. Because Islam or at least Islamists think religion and state should be the same, the political elements of Islam which should be subject to regulation by the state are instead viewed by the uninformed (with encouragement by Muslims) as merely "religious" and given a pass.
And, as usual, Obama and his "national security team" are among the most un of the uninformed:
At the United Nations on Sept. 24, the president asked the world body to come up with a plan over the next year designed to counter ISIL and al Qaeda's ideology. He said ending religious wars through an ideological campaign in the Middle East will be "generational" and led by those who live in the region. No external power, the president insisted, can change "hearts and minds," and as a result the United States would support others in the unspecified program of "counter extremist ideology."
The administration's so-called soft power approach to countering Islamist terrorism also appeared to have difficulty with clearly defining the religious doctrine behind the ideology of the resurgent al Qaeda offshoot now rampaging its way across Iraq and Syria.
Obama stated in a speech on Sept. 10 that ISIL is "not Islamic" despite the group's use of a fundamental Islamic precept of jihad, or holy war, in expanding its reach and imposing anti-democratic, hardline Islamic sharia law in areas it now controls.
Analysts and statements by the president and other administration spokesmen also indicate the administration may not clearly understand ISIL ideology, a required first step in developing a counter to it.
Sebastian Gorka, a counterterrorism specialist, said the major problem for the administration in countering ISIL ideology is that most senior officials hold "post-modern" and "secular" views.
"As a result, they have almost no ability to understand the drivers of violent terrorists which are religious," said Gorka, the Horner chairman of military theory at the Marine Corps University.
"When you don't take religion seriously, it's almost impossible for you to comprehend the philosophy of a suicide bomber, or someone who cuts off the heads of people in the name of jihad," Gorka said.
Senior State Department officials have expressed the view that ideology plays no role in Islamist terror and is spawned instead by "local grievances" such as poverty or other economic and social privation, Gorka said. "That is utterly fallacious. If that were true, half of India would be terrorists," he said.
Why might Obama and his "national security team" think this way? In a word: Multiculturalism:
The Obama administration, under pressure from domestic Muslim advocacy organizations, has adopted a politically correct approach toward Islam and terrorism that has resulted in removing mentions of Islam from its current policies and programs. Instead, counterterrorism programs and policies are carried out under the less-specific rubric of "countering violent extremism" (CVE).
Discussing Islam also has been placed off limits in many government and intelligence community counterterrorism programs as a result of pressure groups and Muslim advisers who insist such topics would violate constitutional separation of church and state issues.
That pressure has inhibited the U.S. government from addressing Islamist ideology in a significant way, critics say. Instead, the government has been forced to indirectly counter claims by terrorists, such as the false notion that the United States and the West are at war with Islam. It used public diplomacy programs and global "messaging" campaigns whose effectiveness has been questionable, to try and counter such claims.
James Glassman, former undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, said "absolutely," that the administration is hampered by concerns over First Amendment constitutional religious issues from conducting aggressive counter-ideology efforts against groups such as al Qaeda and ISIL.
"There is reticence, especially at State, to criticize a noxious political ideology based on a religion," said Glassman, now with the American Enterprise Institute.
Glassman said from the start, Obama has played down the war of ideas in the struggle against terrorism.
During the transition from the Bush to Obama administration, "I was told by the Obama operatives assigned to State that the term 'war of ideas' was not to be used," Glassman said.
"The war of ideas had been my focus at State, but the administration had no interest in continuing the work we were doing," he said. "Ideology provides the environment and the justification for the activities of al Qaeda and ISIL. It must be dealt with—just as we dealt with communism from 1945 to 1990. It's a long battle."
Among those campaigning to ignore the Islamic elements of ISIS are our purported "allies" in the Middle East:
Obama told the United Nations in a speech to the General Assembly Sept. 24 that "extremist ideology" has spread despite more than a decade of military and intelligence efforts to kill al Qaeda leaders. Groups such as ISIL and al Qaeda have "perverted one of the world's great religions," he said.
The world, and specifically "Muslim communities," the president said, must now take steps to "explicitly, forcefully, and consistently reject the ideology of al Qaeda and ISIL."
However, most of the Islamic countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey, so far have not denounced the ISIL ideology and do not appear to be engaged in counter-ideological campaigns designed to discredit the motivating force behind the group.
In other words, Obama may have dismissed ISIS as "not Islamic," but many of those countries that are "Islamic" don't seem to agree. So the question becomes, just how much does the ideology of ISIS differ from actual Islam?
And just how can we expect to win this war -- to the pitiful extend Obama is fighting it as an actual war -- if we refuse to identify the enemy because of "Multiculturalism?"
ISIS not a threat to America, huh?
State Department warns: ISIS attacks outside of the Middle East may be coming.
Watch Ronulans' heads explode over that one.
"[T]he Turks are watching ISIS destroy the Kurds, in much the same way as the Soviets stood by and let the Nazis crush the Warsaw uprising."
So says Richard Fernandez, in an absolutely brutal post describing the Turks' actions and Obama's betrayal of the Kurds, whose history seems to almost exclusively contain betrayal by just about everybody.
What's old is new again. Bloomberg describes how the Turks are watching the Kurds die:
In blocking the resupply of the Kurdish fighters who are trying desperately to hold off a siege by Islamic State in Kobani, Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is making a decision that may haunt Turkey for years to come.
This is not just about Turkey's failure to join the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State. It also threatens Turkey's fragile truce with its Kurdish minority, many of whom are growing impatient with the sight of Turkish soldiers watching, from their side of the border, as Islamic State attacks Kobani.
As in the days of the Shah, the Kurds who had no faith in regional allies put their trust in America. Why? Maybe that old black magic, some residual sentimentality compounded of Shane and High Noon and Saving Private Ryan and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington persuaded the Kurds against their better judgment to roll the dice one more time. But it's come up snake eyes. Like CNN says "several senior U.S. administration officials said Kobani will soon fall to ISIS, which calls itself the Islamic State. They downplayed the importance of it, saying the city is not a major U.S. concern."
Charming. Read the whole thing, as this is just a masterpiece of a post, which is not unusual for Fernandez. Robert Zubrin at National Review reaches the same historical conclusion, and in so doing describes a policy that may be a new low for an Obama administration that seems to relish in reaching new lows daily:
As these lines are being written, some 400,000 Kurds in and around the town of Kobane in northern Syria, on the Turkish border, are being besieged and assaulted by massed legions of Islamic State killers armed with scores of tanks, armored personnel carriers, and heavy artillery. Against these, the Kurdish defenders have only AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades. The Kurds have called on the U.S. to send in air strikes to take out the jihadist forces. In response, the administration sent in two fighter jets Saturday, which destroyed two Islamic State tanks and then flew away. The Kurds are begging for arms. The administration has not only refused to send arms, but is exerting pressure both on our NATO allies and on Israel not to send any either. Over 150,000 Kurds have fled their homes to try to escape to Turkey, but they are being blocked at the border by Turkish troops. Meanwhile, Turkey is allowing Islamist reinforcements to enter Syria to join the Islamic State, while Islamist elements of the Free Syrian Army, funded and armed by the United States, have joined forces with the group in the genocidal assault on the Kurdish enclave.
According to Kurdish sources, the Turks are massing troops on their own side of the border, with the apparent plan being to sit in place and allow the Kurds to be exterminated, and then move in to take over the region once they are gone. This is the same plan as Josef Stalin used when he allowed the Nazis to wipe out the Polish underground during the Warsaw rising of 1944, and only afterward sent in the Red Army to take control of what was left of the city. If anything, it is even more morally reprehensible, since it could be pointed out in Stalin's defense that his forces were at least pummeling the enemy elsewhere while the Warsaw fight was under way. In contrast, the Turks are doing nothing of the sort. For an American administration to collude in such a mass atrocity is infamous.
If we are to win the war against the Islamic State, we need ground forces, and the Obama administration has rejected the idea of sending in any of our own. The Kurds, who have demonstrated both their bravery and their willingness to be friends with America, are right there, and already engaged in the fight. If supplied with adequate arms and backed by serious U.S. tactical air support, they could roll up ISIS as rapidly as the similarly reinforced Northern Alliance did the Taliban in the fall of 2001. Done right, this war could be won in months, instead of waged inconclusively for years.
The administration, however, has rejected this alternative, and has instead opted for a Saudi-Qatari plan to allow the Syrian Kurds to be exterminated while training a new Sunni Arab army in Saudi Arabia. Given the Saudi role in the new army's tutelage and officer selection, the Islamist nature of this force is a foregone conclusion. At best it might provide a more disciplined replacement for the Islamic State as an Islamist Syrian opposition at some point in the distant future (current official administration estimates are at least a year) when it is considered ready for combat. Meanwhile the killing will simply go on, with the United States doing its part to further Islamist recruitment by indulging in endless strategy-free bombing of Sunni villages.
Where I called Obama's coalition the Monty Python Cheese Shop Coalition, Red State is even more damning, calling it the Coalition of the Useless, with the coalition cows now coming home to roost:
When Obama embarked on his current ill-considered adventure in Iraq and Syria he decided he needed a coalition. Because President Bush. It isn't that the coalition partners are actually able to contribute anything of value in the combat power arena but Obama needed a coalition and the regional coalition members all have interests at stake in Iraq and Syria. Never mind that those members, until lately, either directly or indirectly aided ISIS. As I noted in Obama Assembles Coalition of the Useless to Fight ISIS:
Only one Muslim nation, Turkey, is represented and based on their pro-ISIS actions to date one presumes they signed on more to ensure they are in the loop on decisions and have some degree of veto over US actions.
Because we assembled a coalition that is in equal parts useless and needless we are now harnessed to the regional ambitions of those coalition partners.
So we are essentially being held hostage by the Turks, who have never been friends of the Kurds:
When pressed to say why Turkey wasn't helping the PKK-affiliated fighters in Kobani, Erdogan said: "For us, the PKK is the same as ISIL. It is wrong to consider them as different from each other."
To begin with, this statement is simply untrue. While the PKK has carried out terrorist attacks in Turkey, it has never beheaded captives, engaged in genocide against civilians of different creeds or systematically raped women. The PKK doesn't want to create a caliphate across the Middle East and convert or kill all non-Kurds within it. What the PKK wants most is greater political autonomy for Kurds in eastern Turkey -- a negotiable demand.
Even if it worked to Erdogan's political advantage by tapping into Turkish nationalist sentiment, a return to war with the PKK would be destructive -- to the country and the wider region. Refusing to let Kurds resupply their kin through Turkish territory also makes Erdogan appear complicit in the rise of Islamic State.
Nevertheless, he is taking as tough a position with the U.S. as he is with Syria's Kurds, refusing to join the military coalition against Islamic State until the U.S. agrees to broaden its goals to include toppling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He also wants the coalition to enforce a no-fly zone and a (Turkish-dominated) buffer area in northern Syria from which to organize the attack on Assad.
This strategy would provide capable ground troops to follow up on the U.S. coalition's airstrikes -- so it is worth discussion. But negotiations should take place after Turkey joins the coalition. By essentially holding the coalition ransom to his demands, Erdogan is making its Arab members vulnerable to criticism at home. Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates also want to see Assad gone, after all. But they have accepted the "Islamic State first" approach, and at some domestic political risk.
Ultimately, Erdogan's stance will also strain Turkey's most important security alliances, which are with the U.S. and NATO. Turkey is denying its allies use of the U.S. airbase at Incirlik, just 100 miles from the Syrian border.
The fall of Kobani will not, as many say, prove that airstrikes against Islamic State can't work -- only that they can't work without Turkish cooperation. Kobani's defenders have been remarkably effective against a much larger and better armed opponent, and with access to arms and reinforcements, there is every reason to believe they could succeed.
Fernandez concludes his devastating assessment:
And that sensitivity (to the Turks), more than the fearsome air defenses of ISIS, is probably what is keeping US airpower at bay. The president is committed to jaw-jaw. And since he must jaw-jaw with the Turks, Iran, the UAE, and the Saudis, that means the Kurds must die-die. It looks an awful lot like the administration is doing the bidding of its allies and not the other way around. Maybe that's what "leading from behind" really amounts to. Perhaps the administration has been promised that if they go along with Turkey, Anakara will clamp down on ISIS — someday soon. Just you wait and see.
But the cynical question remains: would you buy a used car from this administration, maybe the same one they bought from Turkey? Would you trust your life to them? Because ultimately you are, just as the Kurds did. But a lot of LIVs will reason that they can trust Obama because it's them and he is their beloved … so this time it will be different. They won't be shafted. No they won't.
Well ... bye.
Mike Huckabee says he will leave the Republican Party if it stops actively opposing gay marriage.
I agree with the take from Curly Bill Brocius:
Probably news to Obama's "national security" team.
Michael Totten is one of the great unsung international journalists of the world, well-traveled, well-educated, and experienced with out the arrogance, condescension, or anti-American bias of, say, Christiane Amanpour. His columns speak simple and rather obvious truths that nevertheless seem to regularly escape the foreign policy establishment, especially those in or connected to the Obama administration. Totten has posted a few new Captain Obvious columns for the benefit of our foreign policy betters.
The first is that the members of ISIS are, generally speaking, psychopaths:
Roughly one percent of human beings are psychopaths . Most aren't violent, and nearly all are high-functioning. Supposedly they are overrepresented in Congress, on Wall Street, in corporate boardrooms, and in large urban areas.
They're even more overrepresented in terrorist organizations like the Islamic State (IS) and Al Qaeda. Every violent psychopath with Muslim parents for thousands of miles in every direction is drawn to these organizations like maggots to meat. It gives them permission to behave monstrously with impunity.
I wasn't a bit surprised to learn recently that two British jihadists purchased Islam for Dummies and The Koran for Dummies before heading to Syria. They weren't drawn there by religion. They were drawn by the license to kill.
So it naturally follows that, Totten reports, they are using human shields:
The Pentagon says Islamic State fighters in Syria are using human shields to protect themselves from American airstrikes. I can't verify that claim, but it's a little like saying the Islamists breathe oxygen. Of course they're using human shields. It's what terrorist armies in the Middle East do when facing a civilized enemy.
It wouldn't accomplish squat against a war criminal like Bashar al-Assad. His regime would happily take out a thousand Sunni civilians to kill a single Islamist fighter. He'd see the thousand civilians as bonus points. But the West doesn't fight like that and the Islamic State knows it.
Civilians always die in war zones. It's unavoidable. The United States, however, takes great care to keep that number as low as possible. When the US Army and Marines took Fallujah back from Al Qaeda in Iraq (the Islamic State under its previous name) in 2004, for instance, they first spent weeks evacuating the city of as many civilians as they could before going in.
The US cares more about the welfare of Sunni Muslims in Syria and Iraq than the Islamic State does—which is not likely to help the medieval head-choppers and crucifixion enthusiasts much in the hearts-and-minds department.
The only issue I have with Totten here is that he does not explain the full calculus or what exactly the US is supposed to do about it. Here is how it works:
1. Islamist group uses civilians as human shields to protect military assets during their advance.
2. US bombs Islamist group.
3. US bombing of Islamist group kills said civilian human shields.
4. Islamist group screams "civilian casualties."
5. American, European, and Middle Eastern media report that the US is causing civilian casualties without reporting that said civilians were being used as human shields.
6. US looks bad and Islamists look good.
7. Islamist advance continues.
Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
This dilemma is due in large part to the dishonesty of the American, European, and Middle Eastern media, especially their anti-American bias. So what exactly is the US supposed to do about it?
As brutal as it sounds, the solution is to bomb the Islamists anyway. Yes, there will be civilian casualties in the short term, but if enemies of civilization see that they will get no benefit from using human shields, they will eventually stop taking them. In the long run civilian lives will be saved.
However, I don't expect the current American, European, and Middle Eastern media -- or the current foreign policy establishment -- to understand this rather simple calculus.
Planned Parenthood aborts Leana Wen's presidency in its 44th week
Early Termination: Leana Wen Ousted As President Of Planned Parenthood
India Says Russia's Missiles Don't Work
"[T]he Turks are watching ISIS destroy the Kurds, ...
Probably news to Obama's "national security" team....

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Closed-End Funds & Global ETFs
Dissect ETFs
Invest in Shipping
New York Maritime
Invest in Greece
Master Limited Partnership
Operational Excellence in Shipping
CSR Series
Global Commodities, Energy & Shipping
IR Awards/Greece
Webinar Homepage
Shipping (Maritime Transportation)
Podcast Homepage
Sponsorship & Media
Capital Link Leadership Award
2020 Annual Greek Investor Forum
Tuesday & Wednesday, December 15th & 16th, 2020 - Digital Forum
Access Conference Platform
Conference Panels Videos
NYSE Press Release (EN)
NYSE Press Release (GR)
Theodoros Skylakakis
Alternate Minister of Finance, for Fiscal Policy
He is an economist born in Athens 1959.
He is a former MEP (2009-2014), member of the Committees on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, on Budgetary Control and also of the Special Committee on Organized Crime, Corruption and Money Laundering. Substitute member of the Committees on Industry, Research and Energy, on Economic and Monetary Affairs as well as of the Special Committee on the Financial, Economic and Social Crisis.
2006-2009 he was appointed General Secretary of International Economic Relations and Development Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 2003 to 2006 he was Deputy of the Athens Mayor, Deputy Mayor for Finance and responsible for the preparation of Athens for the Olympic Games 2004. He also served as Chairman of the Organization of Tourism and Economic Development Company in 2005-2006. From 1990 to 1993 he served as Advisor to the Prime Minister Constantinos Mitsotakis and Head of the Office of Planning and Communication of the Prime Minister.
He was also President and General Director of the Research Center E21 (1994-2001). From 2014 he is elected President of Drassi Party which has suspended operations in order to support New Democracy.
He has worked in advertising and communication since 1985 and has founded and managed four companies in the fields of communication (1994-1999), crisis management (2000-2006), agriculture and processing (2014-2019). He has studied economics at the University of Athens and Management (MBA Degree) at the City University of London. He holds a Diploma from the British Market Research Society in Marketing Research as well as a PhD from the Dept of History and Philosophy of Science of the University of Athens on the matter of social tolerance to corruption.
He is married to the lawyer Helen Papapanou and they have two daughters, Marianna and Irene.
Capital Link Contacts
Quick Links Awards Capital Link Capital Link Forums Capital Link Webinars Capital Link Shipping Capital Link Master Limited Partnership Capital Link Closed-End Funds Capital Link ETFs Careers
230 Park Ave, Suite 1536
contact@capitallink.com
10 Lower Grosvenor Place
London, SW1W 0EN
Agiou Konstantinou 40, Suite A5
151-24 Maroussi, Athens, Greece
+30 210 610-9800-2-3
Raadhusgaten 25
P.O.Box 1904 Vika
N-0116 Oslo, Norway
Capital Link : Your Link with the Global Investment Community
New York – London - Oslo - Athens – Limassol – Hong Kong - Shanghai – Singapore – Tokyo
© Copyright 2021 Capital Link Inc. All rights reserved.
Conference Sectors


text:
Apple has to pay four billion dollars to the University for patent infringement
Apple | Aug 6, 2017 | Master3395
The company appeals the verdict.
Apple has been sentenced to pay $ 507 million, just over $ 4 billion, for violating a patent belonging to the University of Wisconsin.
Patent Violations
The patent in the case includes improving the effectiveness of a piece and belonging to the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. The group claims that Apple chips A7, A8 and A8X found in the iPhone 5s, 6, 6 Plus and a number of iPad models, infringing the patent, writes Reuters.
Apple has previously requested U.S. Pantent and Trademark Office to review the patent validity, but has been rejected.
Read also: Apple has to pay billions for patent.
Anchor the verdict
In 2015, the company was found guilty of violating the patent and was then asked to pay 862 million dollars, nearly seven billion at today's rate, in damages. The sum was later cut to $ 234 million, around $ 1.8 billion at today's rate, following a ruling that Apple did not violate the patent with overlays.
District Judge William Conley increased the damages to $ 507 billion because Apple continued to violate the patent until it was released last December.
The company has appealed the verdict and has so far not wanted to comment on the case.
Keywords: Apple, patent, lawsuit
Sources: Reuters


text:
Semetínský potok je levostranným přítokem Vsetínské Bečvy ve městě Vsetín místní část Bobrky. Délka toku činí 6,6 km. Plocha povodí měří 10,7 km².

Průběh toku
Pramení ve Hostýnsko-vsetínské hornatině na severovýchodním svahu vrchu Chléviska (641 m n. m.). Protéká údolím mezi vrchy Ratibořský Grůň a Lipový, dále mezi vrchy Křížový a Janišovský, pak osadou Semetín, která je místní částí Vsetína . Semetín a jeho okolí je rekreační oblastí s množstvím chat a jiných rekreačních objektů. V dolní části Semetína u mostu se potok vlévá do Vsetínské Bečvy.

Odkazy

Reference

Externí odkazy

Potoky v Hostýnsko-vsetínské hornatině
Potoky v okrese Vsetín
Povodí Vsetínské Bečvy
Vsetín

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Produced in Italy, Signoria's 100% Egyptian combed cotton solid sateen linens are available in a myriad of colors to enhance any decor.
A long staple combed cotton is completely dyed in Italy granting it an exceptional durability. The fabric possesses a wonderful silky touch and look that highlights the depth and light of color.
Sheet Sets come with 1 flat sheet, 1 fitted sheet, and 2 pillowcases. Twin sheet sets come with 1 pillowcase.
For sets, twin and cal. king are stocked in white and ivory. All other colors are available special order.
Flat Sheets: Finished with a hemstitch, stocked in white and ivory, all other colors available special order.
Fitted Sheets: Elastic all the way around for a superior fit. Twin, Twin Extra Long, and Cal. King available in White and Ivory. All other colors available special order.
Pillowcases: 2 cases; finished with a hemstitch.


8 Complete shows on audio CD form the lost Hartwest syndicated series 1964-65. Includes the following: 1 Capt. Billy's Whiz-Bang, 2 Fate, 3 Public Relations, 4 Defeated Ex-Kids, 5 Playing the Tuba, 6 Automotive Age, 7 Home, 8 Life Is.


The Rio football kit is another popular chocie amongst our customers. This is because it's a design that doesn't lose its style, you can have this design for years without it getting boring. Accompanied with our Athletico collar with piping this shirt really looks the part on the pitch.
Design your Rio Football Shirt - From £12.50!


Credits: Doug Moench (Script), John Byrne (Pencils), John Byrne (Inks), John Costanza (Colors), Adrienne Roy (Letters).
Credits: Doug Moench (Script), Steve Lightle (Pencils), Bruce D. Patterson (Inks), John Costanza (Colors), Adrienne Roy (Letters).
Credits: Doug Moench (Script), George Perez (Pencils), George Perez (Inks), John Costanza (Colors), Adrienne Roy (Letters).
Credits: Doug Moench (Script), Paris Cullins (Pencils), Larry Mahlstedt (Inks), John Costanza (Colors), Adrienne Roy (Letters).
Credits: Doug Moench (Script), Paris Cullins (Pencils), Larry Mahlstedt (Inks), Adrienne Roy (Colors), John Costanza (Letters).
Credits: Doug Moench (Script), Art Adams (Pencils), Terry Austin (Inks), John Costanza (Colors), Adrienne Roy (Letters).
Credits: Doug Moench (Script), Tom Sutton (Pencils), Ricardo Villagran (Inks), Adrienne Roy (Colors), John Costanza (Letters).
Credits: Doug Moench (Script), Steve Leialoha (Pencils), Steve Leialoha (Inks), Tom Orzechowski (Colors), Adrienne Roy (Letters).
Credits: Doug Moench (Script), Joe Kubert (Pencils), Joe Kubert (Inks), Andy Kubert (Colors), Adrienne Roy (Letters).
Credits: Doug Moench (Script), Ken Steacy (Pencils), Ken Steacy (Inks), John Costanza (Colors), Adrienne Roy (Letters).
Credits: Doug Moench (Script), Rick Leonardi (Pencils), Karl Kesel (Inks), Adrienne Roy (Colors), John Costanza (Letters).
Credits: Doug Moench (Script), Brian Bolland (Pencils), Brian Bolland (Inks), Adrienne Roy (Colors), John Costanza (Letters).
Credits: Doug Moench (Script), Brian Bolland (Pencils), Brian Bolland (Inks), John Costanza (Colors), Adrienne Roy (Letters).
Credits: Mike Grell (Pencils), Mike Grell (Inks), ? (Colors).
Credits: Mike Kaluta (Pencils), Mike Kaluta (Inks), ? (Colors).
Credits: Bernie Wrightson (Pencils), Bernie Wrightson (Inks), ? (Colors).
Credits: Steve Rude (Pencils), Steve Rude (Inks), ? (Colors).
Credits: Bill Sienkiewicz (painted) (Pencils), Bill Sienkiewicz (painted) (Inks), Bill Sienkiewicz (painted) (Colors).


text:
Ledian Memushaj (n. 7 decembrie 1986) este un jucător de fotbal profesionist albanez care joacă pe postul de mijlocaș central pentru clubul italian Pescara și echipa națională a Albaniei.

Clubul de carieră

Cariera timpurie
Memushaj a ajuns la ASD Sarzanese Calcio 1906 pe când avea 17 ani. El și-a ajutat echipa să termine pe locul doi în Eccellenza Liguria în 2006 și să obțină promovarea în Serie D. În vara anului 2008, s-a transferat la echipa de Serie D Valle d'Aosta, pentru care a jucat în 34 de meciuri și a marcat 3 goluri. La 10 septembrie 2009, el a semnat cu echipa Paganese din Divizia Lega Pro Prima după ce a dat probe pentru echipă.

Chievo și Portogruaro (împrumut)
La 21 iunie 2010, a semnat cu echipa de Serie A Chievo Verona din postura de jucător liber de contract. El a fost împrumutat la echipa de Serie B Portogruaro pe 29 ianuarie 2011.

Lecce
La 27 iulie 2012, Memushaj a părăsit-o pe Carpi și s-a mutat la Lecce din  Serie B, cu care a semnat un contract de trei ani. Cu toate acestea, înainte ca el să apuce să joace vreun minut pentru noua sa echipă, ea a fost retrogradată în Divizia Lega Pro Divisione, a treia ligă a Italiei, după ce a fost expulzată din Serie B pentru rolul ei în scandalul Calcio Scommesse.

Memushaj a marcat primul său gol pentru Lecce pe 3 septembrie 2012 într-o victorie cu 3-2 împotriva lui Cremonese. El a marcat golul 3 al echipei sale în minutul 31 cu o lovitură de la 20 de metri. Pe 23 septembrie 2012, a marcat al treilea gol al lui Lecce, în victoria cu 1-3 de la Treviso, care i-a dus pe primul loc în clasamentul din Lega Pro Prima Divisione 2012-2013.

Împrumutul la Carpi
La 27 iulie 2013, Carpi a anunțat că l-a adus pe Memushaj sub formă de împrumut de la Lecce pentru sezonul 2013-2014 al Seriei B. Acest transfer a avut loc la scurt timp după ce Carpi a semnat cu colegul său din echipa națională a Albaniei, Edgar Çani. A fost pentru a doua oară când Memushaj a semnat cu Carpi.

El a devenit un jucător-cheie pentru Carpi, înscriind constant. Primul său gol în acest împrumut la Carpi a venit în prelungirile victoriei scor 0-1 împotriva Regginei la 28 septembrie 2013. La 26 octombrie 2013, a marcat un gol din penalty împotriva Latinei la începutul celei de-a doua reprize, ajutându-și echipa să termine cu o remiză, scor 1-1. La 21 decembrie 2013, a marcat din penalty în minutul 72, ajutându-și echipa să câștige cu 1-0 împotriva lui Palermo. Această victorie a făcut-o pe Palermo să piardă primul loc în fața lui Empoli. La 26 decembrie 2013 a marcat golul egalizator cu Virtus Lanciano, iar coechipierii săi au mai marcat două goluri, care a făcut-o pe Carpi să se afle la trei puncte distanță de zona play-offului pentru promovarea în Serie A. A început anul 2014 cu un gol, continuându-și forma bună din tur. A marcat în minutul 20 din prima repriză împotriva Ternanei de acasă la 25 ianuarie 2014, dar acest lucru nu a fost suficient pentru a evita înfrângerea. Acesta a fost al cincilea gol al sezonului și, în urma acestei înfrângeri, echipa nu a reușit să se califice în play-offul pentru promovare, aflându-se la trei puncte de acesta.

În sezonul 2013-14, Memushaj a jucat în total în 33 de meciuri din Serie B în care a marcat 8 goluri. El a jucat, de asemenea, într-un singur meci din Coppa Italia 2013-2014.

La 6 mai 2014, Memushaj a suferit o ruptură a ligamentului genunchiului drept într-un meci împotriva lui Pescara care a necesitat o intervenție chirurgicală. Nu a putut juca timp de 6 luni.

Întoarcerea la Lecce
Carpi nu a acceptat propunerea lui Lecce de a-l cumpăra pe Memushaj pentru 400.000 de euro, așa că s-a întors la Lecce.

Pescara
La 1 septembrie 2014, Memushaj a semnat cu echipa de Serie B Pescara un contract pe 1 an.

Din cauza accidentării pe care a suferit-o în mai 2014, a ratat primele 7 meciuri ale sezonului de Serie B 2014-2015. El și-a făcut debutul pentru Pescara la data de 12 octombrie 2014, intrând din postura de rezervă în locul lui Gabriel Appelt Pires în minutul 87 împotriva lui Crotone; Pescara a câștigat meciul cu 4-1 în deplasare. El a fost o rezervă neutilizată pentru meciul de săptămâna viitoare din 17 octombrie 2014 împotriva lui Vicenza (1-1), dar o săptămână mai târziu, Memushaj a jucat în meciul cu fosta sa echipă, Carpi, care s-a terminat cu o înfrângere grea, scor 0-5. O săptămână mai târziu, Memushaj a marcat primul său gol pentru Pescara într-o remiză scor 1-1 cu Bari. La 27 decembrie 2015, Memushaj a marcat golul victoriei în meciul cu US Latina Calcio, dar ulterior a fost eliminat din teren după ce a șutat într-un microfon de pe margine, ca parte a sărbătorii golului.

Benevento
La 28 august 2017, Memushaj a fost împrumutat la clubul Benevento din Serie A până la sfârșitul sezonului 2017-2018, cu o opțiune de cumpărare la sfârșitul împrumutului.

Cariera la națională
Memushaj a fost chemat pentru prima dată la echipa națională a Albaniei în noiembrie 2010 de către selecționerul Josip Kuže, pentru un amical împotriva Macedoniei. El și-a făcut debutul la națională în meciul jucat pe stadionul Qemal Stafa, înlocuindu-l pe Klodian Duro în a doua repriză, care s-a încheiat cu o remiză fără goluri. S-a întors la echipă pe 9 februarie 2011 pentru următorul lor meci amical împotriva Sloveniei trecându-și a doua selecție în propria statistică, intrând din nou din postura de rezervă, cu Albania fiind învinsă cu 1-2.

În noiembrie 2013, după o lungă absență, Memushaj s-a întors la echipă cu De Biasi în calitate de selecționer pentru meciul amical cu Belarus, care a avut loc după încheierea meciurilor din grupele de calificare la Campionatul Mondial din 2014. El a fost din nou folosit din nou din postura de rezervă, intrând în locul lui Valdet Rama într-o altă remiză fără goluri.

Campania de calificare la Campionatul European din 2016
Memushaj a ratat primele două meciuri de calificare la UEFA Euro 2016 împotriva Portugaliei și Danemarcei din cauza unei accidentări suferite în mai 2014, o accidentare care l-a ținut pe tușă timp de 6 luni. A ratat, de asemenea, meciul controversat cu Serbia din octombrie 2014. De îndată ce a fost declarat apt de joc, el a fost chemat pentru amicale împotriva Franței și Italiei din noiembrie 2014. El a jucat primul său meci ca titular la națională împotriva Franței, cu Albania reușind o remiză istorică scor 1-1 pe Roazhon Park. El a jucat, de asemenea, ca titular în primul meci jucat de Albania împotriva Italiei, ratând o oportunitate de gol în prima repriză, în timp ce Albania a fost învinsă cu 1-0.

Memushaj a continuat să joace pentru Albania în campania istorică de calificare la Campionatul European din 2016. În meciul final decisiv împotriva Armeniei, a dat o pasă de gol dintr-o lovitură liberă, cu Albania câștigând cu 3-0 și obținând astfel un loc la Campionatul European din 2016, fiind pentru prima dată când Albania reușește să se califice la un turneu final. La 21 mai 2016, el a fost numit în lotul lărgit al Albaniei de 27 de jucători pentru UEFA Euro 2016 și în lotul definitiv de 23 de jucători pe 31 mai.

În turneu, el nu a jucat în primul meci al Albaniei din grupa A împotriva Elveției, care s-a terminat cu o înfrângere scor 0-1. Cu toate acestea, el a revenit în formație în al doilea meci împotriva gazdei Franței, lovind bara, cu Albania luând două goluri în ultimele minute. În ultimul meci din grupe împotriva Romaniei, el i-a dat o pasă de gol lui Armando Sadiku pentru singurul gol al meciului ajutându-și echipa să obțină primei victorie la un turneu de fotbal masculin major și reușind totodată să o învingă pe România pentru prima data din 1948 încoace. Albania a fost eliminată din turneu după ce a terminat a treia în grupa cu trei puncte și un golaveraj de -2, clasându-se pe ultimul loc în printre echipele clasate pe locul trei.

Calificările la Campionatul Mondial din 2018
Memushaj a marcat primul său gol la națională pe 11 iunie 2017 în meciul de calificare la Campionatul Mondial din 2018 împotriva Israelului, marcând al treilea gol în victoria din deplasare scor 3-0.

Viața personală
El și familia sa au migrat în Italia în 1997 din cauza războiului civil din Albania.

Statistici privind cariera

Club

 Până pe 31 martie 2019

Meciuri la națională

 Până pe 13 noiembrie 2017

Referințe

Legături externe

 Profilul lui Memushaj Ledian  la FSHF.org

Fotbaliști internaționali albanezi
Valle d'Aosta
Mijlocași
Fotbaliști albanezi
Oameni în viață
Nașteri în 1986


"Flashing" An Abnomality That Courses Are Cursed With.
water plane mesh reflection fix?
Is It My Imagination, If Not, Why Is This?
Rough tiling...need normal 2d texture?
Golfer turning black with dynamic skies off?
Adjustment points on splines not displaying.


How To Unlock the Sample User Account in Oracle?
* Log into the server home page as SYSTEM.
* Click the Administration icon, and then click Database Users.
* Click the HR schema icon to display the user information for HR.
* Enter a new password (hr) for HR, and change the status to Unlocked.
* Click Alter User to save the changes.
Now user account HR is ready to use.


I have been a client of Andrew Zuroff ,CPA for the past 12 years. As a small business operator, he has assisted me with both the daily operations of my business and strategic planning to ensure that I reach my company's goals. Prior to engaging Andrew as my accountant, my business was struggling and closure seemed imminent. After following his advice, my company began to show a profit and has been healthy ever since.
I would highly recommend Andrew to any small business owner. He is always prompt, professional, and enthusiastic about answering my questions.
If you're looking for a CPA firm that delivers personal, individual attention, I highly recommend Andrew Zuroff,CPA,PC. They are responsive to my needs and provide timely,quality work in a professional manner.


Employee engagement is one of the most useful ingredients in the running of a company.
Unfortunately, most organizations tend to restrict open communication and honest feedback.
Some do this without realizing it (and others with realizing it).
How about spending five minutes a week checking in on each employee? This infographic by 15five proposes some simple methods through which you can revolutionize your employees' level of engagement.
From this infographic you'll discover that 65% of employees say they want more feedback. So, is your workplace engagement level below par?


text:
The Real Hillary Clinton And "That Nigger Wayne..."
Subject: The Real Hillary Clinton And "That Nigger Wayne..."
From: Bruce Gorcyca, a witness to racism...
There are at least two Hillary Clintons. There is the one we all see on TV that waves, smiles, stumbles, avoids reporters, and lies whenever caught in a criminal act or ethical breach. Then there is the Hillary Clinton who called me in 2001, confirming that she could solve my legal problems with $500,000 paid to a certain lawyer.
Having already met President Bill Clinton in 1997 (he only wanted a donation and to bed my executive assistant) http://www.scam.com/entry.php?3589-Seized-Book-Manuscripts-of-Former-Fed... I was more than surprised to see Hillary was at the opposite end of the personality spectrum. To be fair, I never met Hillary, but in retrospect, maybe that is a good thing.
Although it was Jeb Bush and his business partner, retired corrupt FBI agent Terry Nelson that arranged to have my book manuscripts seized at gunpoint by FBI agents without a court order, it is now just one chapter that needs to be shared with the black voters of America, so they are not fooled by Hillary's artificial charm... This is from my rewrite here in China where I have been forcibly exiled;
"Chapter 34
Hello, this is Senator Clinton…
In a few more days it would be the two year anniversary of Al Chalem's gruesome murder, and over a year since the New Jersey Russian Michael Vax unexpectedly knocked on my door in Canada. I was still alive, and after speaking with MP Paul Szabo, I was growing cautiously confident that I might continue to live safely with my family in Canada. Rhana Khan at the UNHRC said she received my letter and was trying to track down my refugee claim, but it wasn't "where it is supposed to be." Nancy Cameron at Amnesty International was trying to arrange a meeting, but she said there was some resistance at the head office in Canada because I was an American citizen and there were "budgeting issues", she would explain to me when we would meet.
But why wasn't the FBI Director and the Senators responding to my letters dated September 15, 2001? Maury had promised someone would be in touch with me "soon" but what did "soon" mean? Besides, Maury now worked out of the New Orleans field office but he said he spoke with the "right people" in Washington, and he vouched for my credibility. Surely they would have to be interested in the Saudis, and I could prove the AFG connection with Dr. Erling Pederson, Mark McCormick, and his mother Nucia and his younger brother Jeff, the Southern Bell telephone bills, as well as the AFG secretaries Ana and Kimberly. But FBI agent Tom Doktor, who was still stationed in Buffalo, would only say "I am not allowed to speak with you any more since SA Marley took over the matter." John Marley was one of the four agents who came to visit me in Toronto back in January. Marley had impressed me with his professionalism, and he seemed to know the real score. He was introduced to me as the lead agent on the case. We both agreed on who killed Chalem but he said he was not allowed to discuss nor explain why the triggerman was not yet arrested despite more probable cause that they needed for even the least astute judge in America. After all, they had the entire murder and the conversation leading up to it on tape since Chalem, their Wall Street informant was wired as was his home.
After two weeks had passed with no reply from Senators Biden nor Clinton, I just assumed neither of them wanted to involve themselves in what could easily become a national scandal some day. The truthers were picking up steam and credibility with new evidence of a controlled demolition, and discrepancies on the WTC7 building collapse were mounting. Me now suggesting the Saudis may have bank-rolled the latest Pearl Harbor, would not be very convenient for the government. But then I figured I had nothing to lose by giving them a follow-up call and just ask them directly if they could help me, and if they could, would they actually do so.
I am not exaggerating when I tell you that it is easier to get a call through to Santa Claus at the North Pole than to get a call through with a sitting Senator. Talking with an aide is no problem, but even getting the executive assistant to pick up a call is mission impossible. But getting through to Biden's staff was quite easy. But of course I was told a call with Senator Biden himself was not possible and I was asked to relay my needs to a staffer who would take my information and see if he could help.
But as soon as gave him my name, he asked me to spell it and I did. He then asked me the nature of my call and when I replied that I was following up to previous correspondence, he stopped me and asked me the date of the correspondence and what was the subject matter. I gave him the date and told him an assortment of government crimes and corruption. He told me to hold and he would transfer me to the "Chief of correspondence" I was put on hold.
That hold seemed like an eternity but maybe was only about four or five minutes, when he came back on the line and asked me "Are you a federal employee?" I replied that I used to work for the U.S. Justice and U.S. Treasury Departments, but not anymore. "Okay" was all he said and back on hold I went!
After a few more minutes a lady came on the line and I cannot for the life or me remember her name, but she was very professional and mature and told me the following "The Senator has received your package and reviewed the material you sent. He has made an inquiry to the FBI and we are awaiting their reply. But in cases like these, we usually do not interfere with FBI investigations and we see your lawyer was communicating directly with the FBI Director." "So what are you telling me?" I asked. She replied, I'm telling you that it is probably best that we both wait for a reply from the FBI, and then we can revisit the matter if there is any problems or discrepancy with their reply." That sounded like a logical and acceptable answer, so I thanked the woman for her time and I jotted down her name and the time and date we spoke on a post-it note. In short I was satisfied that the matter was being handled professionally by Senator Biden's office.
I expected to get a similar answer from Senator Clinton's office and was quite surprised when I did not. It seems that whoever contacts Senator Clinton's office will automatically become part of their fund-raising database within an hour of making contact with any of their offices. When I called her Washington Office, I was asked if I would like to make a contribution or volunteer my time to "help Hillary as a volunteer". Even though I stated that I was calling to solve a serious problem, I continued to get a sales job, until I very directly said, "I am following up about my correspondence." Then I was just told that I should just "be patient and wait for a written reply, because Senator Clinton will answer your letter, sooner or later, but that she was very busy at this time.". I then asked who her chief of staff or executive assistant was, and was bluntly told "Sir, you do not need that information. Just be patient and you will get a reply." I concluded that had I said I was interested in making a contribution, that woman would have been more cooperative and helpful. But I decided I would give the New York office a call, and pretend I was interested in making a campaign donation, and would use that pretense to find out the name of her top aide, and then shift the subject of the call over to the letter and tapes I sent the Senator.
So when I called Senator Clinton's New York office, the call went much quicker and smoothly and people seemed a lot more "friendly" after I said I was contemplating a $500,000 campaign pledge, because I was concerned about "global warming." At least the last half of my statement was true. As for the $500,000 donation, that was completely false and if I had that $500,000, giving it away to a politician would not even be on my "possible" list.
Apparently it is SOP to not say where a Senator can be reached by phone, because I was told that Mrs. Clinton was not in the office and that one of her top aides would reach out to her and get back to me "soon", They asked for my telephone number and this posed a bit of a problem for me since I knew my mobile and home number was being monitored by the feds and I could not hand out at Tim Horton's all day waiting for the pat phone to ring … or could I? I guess I could wait a few more hours since I had nothing planned for the balance of the afternoon. So I gave them the telephone number outside the wash-roo of the Tim Hortons on the Mississauga Road QEW exit. In fact I gave them both numbers since there were two phone on the wall. They said it might be an hour or two, but either the Senator or Debbie would be calling me back.
So I sat my ass down with a cup of Tim's best and picked a Toronto Star newspaper someone had left at the table nearest to the washrooms and awaited the call-back from Senator Clinton's office. Two hours passed and those phones never rang even once. One young girl who bought $10 of quarters at the counter hogged up one of the phones for an hour arguing with someone, but I was not too worried since I had given Clinton's staffer both numbers, "in case one line was busy". But still, another hour passed and I would have to go pick up my son from school. As I stood up, it suddenly dawned on me that maybe not all the pay phones in Canada could receive incoming phone calls. So I decided that I would check by calling the numbers from my mobile. Shit! I was angry at myself for not checking as I received the recorded message "We're sorry you have reached a number that does not accept incoming calls".
I immediately grabbed my calling card, and placed another call to Clinton's New York office but this time another person had answered the phone, and she told me she was the "last one in the office" since everyone else had left to attend some activity. I explained who I was and that I had left the "wrong telephone" number, and would have to call back in the following day for Senator Clinton, or "Debbie". At that point I was told that "Debbie" would not be there because she was "in Florida". I replied that I would call back in morning as I heard the tone of the phone I had a minute left on my calling card.
The next day after I dropped my son off at school I went to see my Polish friend Mario to find myself a burner phone and he gave me the number of some Russian friend of his and within an hour we met in another coffee shop right next to the Port Credit bridge and for $500 I had an old Nokia phone with an unregistered chip inside. After Chalem had his brains blown out in Jersey and those threatening phone calls followed my wife and I no matter where we went, I guess I grew overly "concerned" about being monitored and tracked . I knew the cell phones could be tracked by GPS so unless I was actually calling the FBI or RCMP people I would be sure to drive at least 50 kilometers away to make any sensitive calls on my mobile, but after a while that became inconvenient, so I just bought a bunch of calling cards from different vendors at a Pakistani convenience store on Dundas Street.
I made my call to Clinton's office and discovered that "Debbie" did in fact try to call me back yesterday but "had difficulties getting through". I gave them my new 647 number in Toronto where I told them I was "visiting on business for a few days". They assured me I would hear from Debbie later in the day. Sure enough, I did get a call from a 954 area code which I recognized to be a Broward County telephone prefix. Debbie introduced herself and immediately she focused in on my "contribution", and asked me if I needed a receipt or if I wanted to make it in cash. I told her that the method of payment was not an issue for me and redirected the conversation to my "legal problems" and I said that I needed to speak with Hillary about the five page letter I sent her. Debbie said that she was not aware of any letter but would tell the Senator I needed to speak with her. At that point Debbie asked me what I did for a living. I immediately recalled my 1997 meeting with Bill Clinton in Miami and how they had me in their database wrongly pegged as a "fund manager" so I ran with that to Debbie. She suddenly asked me if I played golf and I responded "I do but some of my friends disagree". She immediately replied that she had some VIP passes for Doral Country Club in Miami she would send me as a gift and she asked where to send them? I recognized this to be an old sales trick to get an address of a prospect to do a little background research on them. I gave her my old Brickell Key address since it would satisfy her curiosity.
Finally Debbie finished up the call by explaining how busy Senator Clinton was and about some legislation that was consuming her time and that she returned most of her calls in the evening or on weekends so she could not guarantee a fixed time for a conference call but I should expect a call back in two or three days. I agreed that was fine and the call came to an end.
Two nights later I was watching an NFL football game on the tube when I heard the goofy ring on the burner phone. The timing was horrible because the game was intense with only a 3 point spread and I could win or lose $100 on the next play. But of course, my life also had priorities, more than most people so I grabbed the phone. It was Debbie, and she told me one of her people were now trying to patch a call through to me from Senator Clinton and I should stand by for the call. That was not a problem for me. I waited, and waited. As I did Baltimore scored and I won my $100. I was in a good mood when the phone finally rang again. "Hello, this is Hillary Clinton, I understand you had something important to discuss with me? I said hello of course but I assumed she already knew who I was and had been prepped on my call. "Yes Senator, did you get my letter about Jeb Bush, Jack Goldberg, and the Saudis? The Senator must have heard some words that she didn't want to hear and erupted on me like a volcano "Does this have anything to do with that nigger Wayne, because if it does…" Someone on her end stopped her in mid sentence, and I could hear them tell the Senator "You took the wrong call, this is the fund manager from Miami who wants to make the $500K donation". There was an awkward silence on the phone as I was thoroughly thrown for a loop. I did have a friend named Wayne who promoted Thugs, Bones, and Harmony, and he was a black guy from Cleveland, but he could not possibly have any dealings with any Senator. I remained silent as Senator Clinton apologized for picking up "the wrong line". The Wayne coincidence was strange but now I wonder which "Wayne" she was talking about. Did she say "Dwayne" and I simply misunderstood? Since it was the wrong call, I guess it doesn't matter.
I explained the reason I was trying to reach her concerning the letter I previously sent her and was asked to "refresh my memory". But as soon as I mentioned the video tape of FBI agent Terry Nelson and the audio tape of FBI agent Maury Berthon, she recalled my letter with "Oh yes, that letter… " and then told me "There are solutions for every problem, but some problems are more complicated than others and cannot be solved in telephone conversations." I agreed with her. She then said, "Your problem requires some specialized legal work and you need to speak with Debbie and only Debbie about this, do you understand?" she asked. "Of course." I answered. "And she can handle your donation as well." she added. "I am grateful for your generosity, but there is no need for you to call me again – deal only with Debbie." This was a command and not a question. As soon as I agreed, Senator Clinton said "Great, I have to take another call now so hook up with Debbie and she will keep me posted. Good by now". She hung up before I could even say Good-bye. The entire call took less than five minutes.
To be very honest, I know very well who "Debbie Wasserman" is today, but until last year, I could only recall that Debbie's last name began with a W and had two "s" in her name and was a Jewsih family name. In fact until last year, if you would have asked me to independently recall Debbie's name's as I was asked to do by Rick, I would have given you the same answer I gave Rick a few years ago when he came to see me in Beijing. I told him, "I think her last name is "Weiss". I recall that it was a Jewish name that began with a W and has two "s"s in it. So maybe "Weiss", "Weissman", or "Weissberg", is what I told Rick a few years ago.
But last year as I was trying to nap on my sofa, I had the television on and some CNN news clips were being played on CCTV. I was not paying much attention until I heard a voice that sounded very familiar to me. The more I tuned into that voice, the more sure I was that I knew the person, or at least spoke with them before. Finally my curiosity got the best of me and I sat up on the sofa and focused on the lady speaking on TV. Her name was "Debbie Wasserman" and she was announcing the rules of some debates I was not even following yet. As I continued to watch, I realized within a few minutes that this is the same woman probably I spoke with on the phone back in 2001 who wanted me to hire her lawyer friend in New York for $500,000. The lawyer she said would "make all your legal problems go away." His name was also Jewish and was either "Levi", "Levin" or "Levine". It didn't matter then nor now, because I did not have the $500K to buy my freedom – then or now. Funny how some fortunate Americans can buy justice, and the rest of us must beg for it. On second thought, I guess that is not funny at all, and upon reflection, is probably the real reason I decided to rewrite this book."
In closing, I hope you all realize that this incident took place many long years before Hillary every even suggested she would run for president, and those who know me and served with me in the military know I am not a racist myself. I have a mixed marriage that is now going on 18 years. I just cannot sit silently and allow such an evil and unstable person become the leader of our nation at such a critical point in history. And no, I do not recommend Donald Trump who also has a racist streak of another flavor in him. There are much better alternatives like Jill Stein, Bernie Sanders, and Gary Johnson.
Please search your own heart and follow it. Thank you.
Bruce A. Gorcya
Forcibly separated from my Canadian wife and kids for 8 years in China
(Uncle Sam put me on the "no fly list" until my passport expired and then told by a federal agent thug that my family would be killed if I attempted to return back to Canada)
{A} Background to why I reached out to Senator Hillary Clinton in 2001 can be found here: http://www.scam.com/entry.php?3644-Hillary-Clinton-The-FBI-Director-and-...!
{B} Background to the murder of FBI Wall Street informant Al Chalem can be found here at the below link. Please understand that Chalem was personally known to me and we spoke on several occasions, including about the identical death threats, and "instructons" we both had received to leave the country. He was wired and under 24/7 FBI surveillance when he was shot ten times. Both the FBI and I know who killed him and why, yet officially the case remains unsolved. Ditto for another political murder of former senior SEC investigator John Wheeler whose body was found in a garbage dump in 2010. John was trying to help expose my situation and matters related to 911 when he was killed by Robert Andrew Levine and a U.S. Army Colonel who visited and threatened Jack about 2 months before his murder. I spoke with John roughly 45 days before his body was found. We were supposed to have met in China in January of 2010. Uncle Sam had other plans for him. See http://norealmystery.worpress.com and https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/4hmck6/first_of_si...
{C} Background as to why Jeb Bush and Nelson had my book manuscripts seized in Ohio and my person seized in Canada: http://www.veteranstodayforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=1229 and also http://www.scam.com/showthread.php?701251-Were-FBI-Agent-Terry-Nelson-am...
{D} I am now being smeared on the internet and my story posted at http://whyunclesamhatesbruce.blogspot.ca has been censored. See http://www.opnlttr.com/letter/confessions-american-pedophile
{E} When I first contacted Hillary's office in 2001, I did not know at that time what good friends she was with former corrupt AUSA Jack Goldberg, Marc Rich, and Jefferey Epstein. I only knew those names from where I worked 2 years as an FBI informant - American Financial Group in Florida whose President was a DoJ executive for 25 years. See: http://www.scam.com/entry.php?3345-The-Biggest-Wall-Street-crime-in-hist...
{F} I recorded 29 calls I had with senior government officials and they will be released in 7 different countries if anything out of the ordinary happens to my family Terry.
"America does not deal with poor people." Is it your intention?
The Cost of NGO and Business Registration Should Be Set to Zero
Appeal to a court against yourself (to Putin)
july 4 celebration


After a long break Carpet Bowls has returned to the Village Hall once again.
Following a long break the village indoor bowls club was re-launched in October. The original Bowls Club was formed back in the 1980s and a Denton team played in the local leagues. Then around the millenium, following some deaths and retirements, actual bowling ceased but the "Bowls and Social Club" continued as holders of the licence for the Village Hall bar.
A small group of enthusiastic bowlers have rescued the "equipment", the mats, bowls etc., from its long hibernation - some of the players were hardly out of nappies when it was last used.
It is doubtful that a full team will be formed to compete against other clubs but regular informal sessions on Monday evenings are planned.


text:
Why does Trump get to choose if Regeneron works?
Pope Francis upsets both sides of the culture war
by Eric Kaufmann
Monday, 5
BLM divides white Americans more than anyone else
Lauren Victor sits calmly as BLM protesters demand she raises her fist
Our exclusive US polling of over 4,000 respondents, in partnership with Focaldata, contains a striking finding about how different groups are responding to current events in America. One of a series of statements under the heading 'To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements about rioting' was the statement, 'The 'Black Lives Matter' movement is dangerous.'
Respondents were asked whether they agreed strongly, mildly, or disagreed strongly or mildly. The inclusion of the preamble 'about rioting' in this survey experiment primes respondents to think about rioting, thus elevating agreement, so this shouldn't be read as an assessment of BLM.
But its design helps us probe cultural fault lines in the American electorate. A majority — 56% — of respondents agreed with the statement. A third of African-Americans agreed, rising to 51% of Hispanics and Asians and 61% of whites, suggesting as you might expect that there is some racial variation in attitudes to BLM.
However, racial differences are dwarfed by the partisan divide: 86% of Republicans compared to just 30% of Democrats felt BLM to be dangerous, a gap of 56 points compared to the 29-point racial gap between whites and blacks.
This reinforces the point I made in a New York Times article last year in which I argued that the divide in America is not about race, but racial attitudes, which in large measure transcend race. That is, the partisan gap is underpinned in part by sharp differences in the position rival ideologies take on race-inflected issues.
Differences of opinion are less to do with racism than contrasting perceptions over why blacks are not as wealthy as whites, whether reparations should be paid, support for affirmative action, or perceptions of whether diversity makes American society stronger.
Breaking the responses down by race and partisanship in figure 1 reveals a similar pattern in our data. First look at the right-hand set of bars. White Trump voters are more likely to agree (87%) that BLM is dangerous than Hispanic and Asian Trump voters (82%) and black Trump voters (58%). This is what we would expect.
But then look at the left-hand set of bars. White Democrats (28%) are less likely than Hispanic and Asian Democrats (41%) and very close to black Democrats (26%) in their likelihood of agreeing that BLM is dangerous while. White Democrats are about 20 points less likely to criticise BLM than we would expect from a race-based interpretation. And we see the same anomalous pattern for white Democrats on other questions in this data, such as whether western civilisation is in decline.
It could be that age, education, region or income differences between the groups explain this curious anomaly. However, as figure 2 reveals, even when you control for these factors, the red line for white Americans bends sharply downwards due to white Democratic progressivism.
The explanation is that one group is acting in a manner that runs contrary to Shadi Hamid's notion of racial self-interest, namely white Democrats. This also turns up significant in statistical models. It reflects Zach Goldberg's finding that the only group to rate its own race lower than that of other races are white liberals. 'Very liberal' whites in America score whites 20 points lower on a 0-100 thermometer than other racial groups, whereas even minority conservatives feel more warmly toward their own race than others.
Political religion, which brooks largest among whites, especially white liberals, overrides ethnoracial attachment to a much greater extent than is true of other groups.
For full tables and methodology data please click HERE.
Eric Kaufmann is Professor of Politics at Birkbeck, University of London. His new book is Whiteshift: Immigration, Populism and the Future of White Majorities.
Note: Pseudo-R2=.174. Controls for nonvoter, education, age, gender, region, income. N=4,040.
R Craven
Well they are comprehensively bvggered every time they attempt the recourse to reason. Read more
Old Fox
Indeed. BLM? To the left? Really? What about stop and search, then? I think the most frightening component of all in this recrudescent extremism of the left is its open embrace of unreason. Read more
"even though colonialists actually prevented inter-tribal wars" A notable example being Cecil Rhodes. Read more


text:
Q: Keras Transfer Learning Resnet50 using fit_generator got high acc but low val_acc problem I'm using Resnet50 model to do transfer learning, using 100,000 images in total of 20 scenes(MIT Place365 dataset). I trained only the last 160 layers(due to the memory restriction). The problem is I got a pretty high accuracy but extremely low validation accuracy, I think this might be an overfitting problem but I don't know how to solve it. I will really appreciate if anyone can give me advice about how to solve my low val_acc problem, thank you very much.
My code is as follows:
V1 = np.load("C:/Users/Desktop/numpydataKeras_20_val/imgonehot_val_500.npy")
V2 = np.load("C:/Users/Desktop/numpydataKeras_20_val/labelonehot_val_500.npy")

net = keras.applications.resnet50.ResNet50(include_top=False, weights='imagenet', input_tensor=None, input_shape=(224, 224, 3))

x = net.output
x = Flatten()(x)
x = Dense(128)(x)
x = Activation('relu')(x)
x = Dropout(0.5)(x)
output_layer = Dense(20, activation='softmax', name='softmax')(x)
net_final = Model(inputs=net.input, outputs=output_layer)

for layer in net_final.layers[:-160]:
    layer.trainable = False
for layer in net_final.layers[-160:]:
    layer.trainable = True

net_final.compile(Adam(lr=.00002122), loss='categorical_crossentropy', metrics=['accuracy'])

def data_generator():
    n = 100000
    Num_batch = 100000/100
    arr = np.arange(1000)
    np.random.shuffle(arr)
    while (True):
        for i in arr:
            seed01 = random.randint(0,1000000)

            X_batch  = np.load( "C:/Users/Desktop/numpydataKeras/imgonehot_"+str((i+1)*100)+".npy" )
            np.random.seed(seed01)
            np.random.shuffle(X_batch)

            y_batch = np.load( "C:/Users/Desktop/numpydataKeras/labelonehot_"+str((i+1)*100)+".npy" )
            np.random.seed(seed01)
            np.random.shuffle(y_batch)

            yield X_batch, y_batch

weights_file = 'C:/Users/Desktop/Transfer_learning_resnet50_fit_generator_02s.h5'
early_stopping = EarlyStopping(monitor='val_acc', patience=5, mode='auto', verbose=2)
model_checkpoint = ModelCheckpoint(weights_file, monitor='val_acc', save_best_only=True, verbose=2)
callbacks = [early_stopping, model_checkpoint]

model_fit = net_final.fit_generator(
    data_generator(),
    steps_per_epoch=1000,
    epochs=5,
    validation_data=(V1, V2),
    callbacks=callbacks,
    verbose=1,
    pickle_safe=False)

The followings are the printouts:
Epoch 1/5
1000/1000 [==============================] - 3481s 3s/step - loss: 1.7917 - acc: 0.4757 - val_loss: 3.5872 - val_acc: 0.0560

Epoch 00001: val_acc improved from -inf to 0.05600, saving model to C:/Users/Desktop/Transfer_learning_resnet50_fit_generator_02s.h5
Epoch 2/5
1000/1000 [==============================] - 4884s 5s/step - loss: 1.1287 - acc: 0.6595 - val_loss: 4.2113 - val_acc: 0.0520

Epoch 00002: val_acc did not improve from 0.05600
Epoch 3/5
1000/1000 [==============================] - 4964s 5s/step - loss: 0.8033 - acc: 0.7464 - val_loss: 4.9595 - val_acc: 0.0520

Epoch 00003: val_acc did not improve from 0.05600
Epoch 4/5
1000/1000 [==============================] - 4961s 5s/step - loss: 0.5677 - acc: 0.8143 - val_loss: 4.5484 - val_acc: 0.0520

Epoch 00004: val_acc did not improve from 0.05600
Epoch 5/5
1000/1000 [==============================] - 4928s 5s/step - loss: 0.3999 - acc: 0.8672 - val_loss: 4.6155 - val_acc: 0.0400

Epoch 00005: val_acc did not improve from 0.05600

A: Following https://github.com/keras-team/keras/issues/9214#issuecomment-397916155 it seems that batch normalization should be trainable.
The following code can replace the loop where you set/unset trainable layers:
for layer in model.layers:
    if hasattr(layer, 'moving_mean') and hasattr(layer, 'moving_variance'):
        layer.trainable = True
        K.eval(K.update(layer.moving_mean, K.zeros_like(layer.moving_mean)))
        K.eval(K.update(layer.moving_variance, K.zeros_like(layer.moving_variance)))
    else:
        layer.trainable = False

On my own data, I needed to reduce batch size to avoid OOM, and I now have:
Epoch 1/10
470/470 [==============================] - 90s 192ms/step - loss: 0.3513 - acc: 0.8660 - val_loss: 0.1299 - val_acc: 0.9590
Epoch 2/10
470/470 [==============================] - 83s 177ms/step - loss: 0.2204 - acc: 0.9163 - val_loss: 0.1276 - val_acc: 0.9471
Epoch 3/10
470/470 [==============================] - 83s 177ms/step - loss: 0.2219 - acc: 0.9184 - val_loss: 0.1048 - val_acc: 0.9589
Epoch 4/10
470/470 [==============================] - 83s 177ms/step - loss: 0.1813 - acc: 0.9327 - val_loss: 0.1857 - val_acc: 0.9303

Warning, it may impact accuracy and you must freeze your model to avoid weird inference. But it seems to be the only way that worked for me.
Another comment https://github.com/keras-team/keras/issues/9214#issuecomment-422490253 only checks the layer names to set it trainable if it's a batch normalization, but it didn't changed anything for me. Maybe it can help for your dataset.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Weather factors, like other inputs such as land, labor, seeds, irrigation, fertilizer, and pesticides are also direct inputs in crop production. In a state of agriculture where the adoption and diffusion of modern technologies is very low or almost nil, weather factors count more than other inputs because of their direct and indirect effects. Thus, the link between weather and crop yield will have implications on food supply and crop forecasting and management policies. It is of immense importance to the policymakers, agricultural scientists, agricultural economists, and meteorologists to understand this relationship. The methodology for studying this relationship has undergone many improvements over time. This paper attempts to review the studies in this area done in India and a few from abroad that brought an evolution in the methodology of crop-weather modeling.
Please fill out the form to download Statistical Modeling of Crop-Weather Relationship in India: A Survey on Evolutionary Trend of Methodologies.


text:
Carlos Tevez in Manchester: From "out of this world" to 'RIP Fergie' and an ongoing feud
On March 29, 2008, Tevez was part of a free-flowing Man Utd attack Gary Neville dubbed "out of this world", but by March 29, 2010 he was scoring a hat-trick for Man City
17:39, 29 MAR 2021
It is very easy to find the date that the Manchester football landscape changed largely because there's a big billboard you can point at, but there are also lots of other significant dates along the way as well.
Like March 29.
Because if you head back to that date in 2008 you'll see Manchester United doing what came naturally to them, and had done so for the previous decade-and-a-half.
Sir Alex Ferguson's swashbuckling outfit, perhaps his finest United side to watch and still the club's most recent truly great team, swept aside an overwhelmed Aston Villa 4-0 in the driving rain at Old Trafford to move six points clear at the top of the table, and even closer to a title they'd eventually win.
And it was all very Manchester United. Emphatic but expected. 'Twas ever thus.
Tevez was a big hit with the United fans (Image: PA)
There was Cristiano Ronaldo, in his season of seasons, opening the scoring with a remarkable flick through the legs of Martin Laursen and past Scott Carson.
Ronaldo then turned provider for Carlos Tevez to nod home a second, and the Portuguese would tee up two goals for Wayne Rooney in the second period as United's superb attacking trio - an "out of this world" three-piece even better than Liverpool 's famed attack in their pomp, according to Gary Neville - all got on the scoresheet.
Fast forward exactly two years to the day though, and Ronaldo was nearing the end of his first season at Real Madrid, Rooney was eyeing his own big-money exit and Tevez was scoring a hat-trick for Manchester City.
What had happened in that intervening two years didn't immediately appear to be impacting the football hierarchy in Manchester, but it would certainly lay the groundwork for what was to follow.
Blue moon rising off the pitch, if not on
Wigan were the opposition at the stadium then called Eastlands on March 29, 2010, with Gary Caldwell's red card for a robust challenge on Tevez the precursor to a 12-minute treble from the Argentinean.
"We improved in the second half and then after the sending off it was too easy. The red card changed the game," admitted City boss Roberto Mancini, four months into the job as the first manager appointed by City's Abu Dhabi owners since the 2008 takeover.
"Carlos is a fantastic striker and I hope he continues like this in the run-in. If we fight like we did in the second half, we will probably finish fourth."
But they didn't.
Tevez scored a hat-trick against Wigan on March 29, 2010 (Image: REUTERS)
City weren't the complete package just yet, with their win lifting them above Liverpool and into fifth, still some 16 points behind leaders United, but the seeds were beginning to grow.
Days later Ferguson would be left furious as a clearly offside Didier Drogba winner was allowed to stand at Old Trafford, swinging the title race decisively in Chelsea 's favour, and although City would miss out on the Champions League after a final week defeat to Tottenham, the sense of a threat emerging to United from under their own noses was a real one.
And no-one typified that more than Tevez.
By wrestling him away from United the previous summer City had laid down a marker that, at that stage, they would feel was bigger than any result or league finish.
It was headline-grabbing, and viral, disruptive marketing at its best.
And Ferguson did not like it.
The noisy neighbours
Fresh from the ugly summer transfer wrangle, the Manchester United boss was in a buoyant mood when his side had beaten Tevez and City 4-3 in a pulsating derby in September 2009 thanks to a late winner from Michael Owen.
In the manager's eyes, the result had confirmed that City were back where they always were during his time at Old Trafford, in United's shadow.
"Sometimes you have a noisy neighbour. You cannot do anything about that. They will always be noisy," he said while grinning at full-time.
"You just have to get on with your life, put your television on and turn it up a bit louder."
Ferguson's opinion of Tevez would end up changing (Image: PA)
But while the feeling that City were just the loud upstarts intent on causing a fuss was a real one at Old Trafford, elsewhere their potential was beginning to be noted. While traditional powers such as Arsenal and Liverpool saw the looming threat and the challenge to their European spots, United were banking on their room at the top being reserved.
Ferguson, perhaps insulated with the knowledge that he wouldn't have to directly deal with the City threat for much longer as he eyed retirement, was clearly fond of that "noisy neighbours" line, and trotted it out again before the Community Shield in the summer of 2011.
Yet the mere fact that City were playing in that match had indicated that they were on the rise.
Captained by Tevez, they had beaten Stoke in the previous season's FA Cup final, a result still seen as pivotal to the club's future successes by many of their fans, while their third-place Premier League finish had earned them a spot in the Champions League.
United were too busy enjoying the view from the top to notice though, with Ferguson revelling in the club's record-breaking 19th league title as Liverpool were knocked from their perch.
The FA Cup win and Champions League qualification celebrations in east Manchester would barely have registered on Ferguson's radar, but they were in many senses the end of the beginning of the modern City.
Tevez had been a keystone of that building project, and looking back now it is that transfer more than anything which sealed the shift in power.
"Fergie, sign him up"
Tevez had stunned the football world when he joined West Ham (Image: Action Images)
Of course, Tevez was never really Manchester United's player in the first place.
He had arrived at the club on a two-year loan deal from his third-party owners in the summer of 2007, and it hadn't taken United's fans long to take to the bustling Argentinean.
Chants of "Fergie, sign him up" could be heard throughout his first season at Old Trafford, when he scored 19 goals and played a key role in the Premier League and Champions League double.
By the following year though Ferguson had started to have his doubts.
The summer of 2008 had seen Dimitar Berbatov join United on the very same day that City's takeover went through, bringing Robinho with it, and with Ferguson often seeing the Bulgarian as a better option than Tevez, doubts began to form over whether or not the loan deal would be turned into a permanent transfer.
The fans wanted it to happen though, and there was a real sense that what Ferguson said was an agreed £25million deal would go through.
But then nothing.
Ferguson wrote in his 2013 autobiography that he'd felt Tevez had begun to "play for himself" a little, citing a lack of impact after coming on at half-time in the 2009 Champions League final defeat to Barcelona, which would also be Ronaldo's last appearance for the club.
Tevez and Ronaldo both left Manchester United in the summer of 2009 (Image: Action Images)
Indeed, an "impact player" was exactly how the Scot saw Tevez, and he'd also suggested that the forward had made it known that he intended to retire in 2013, making a long-term contract offer futile.
"Tevez told us he was only going to play for four more years," said Ferguson in 2011.
"If we had signed him on a five-year contract knowing that he was going to quit in four, there would have been no resale value for us."
Ferguson would also go on to suggest that City paid almost double that agreed £25million fee to sign Tevez in 2009, with fees spiralling as his third-party owners handed over full control.
There was a sense that Ferguson was happy that United had got what they wanted out of the deal, and with Ronaldo leaving too, the manager saw this as the clearing of the decks.
But what he'd also done is leave the door open for City to create a stir, and to put a Red Devils fan favourite in sky blue.
To a club where money didn't matter, it was an open goal.
Welcome to Manchester
"There are two sides to every story, I understand that and football can be complicated, but I didn't like it when he was on the banner saying 'Welcome to Manchester' after he signed for City and I told him so," said Patrice Evra in 2016.
Ah yes, the banner.
Again, as far as an attempt to antagonise neighbours who had little choice but to hear them, City had played a blinder here.
After the signing, a giant billboard depicting Tevez in a City shirt was placed on the edge of the city limits by the borough of Trafford and next to Salford, both United heartlands. The 'Welcome to Manchester' message also reinforced the idea that City can rely on local support, with much of United's coming from out of town.
While Ferguson would no doubt have hoped that the attention would focus on the huge fee City had paid for Tevez, a new kind of transfer rhetoric was being established.
This was now the age of viewing a transfer as a win, regardless of cost, and with United also suffering the blow of losing Ronaldo they seemed ripe for the kicking while they were down.
The banner angered United fans (Image: PA Archive/Press Association Images)
City and Tevez weren't going to pass up that opportunity.
"I was there for two years and Sir Alex never called me or sent me a text," said Tevez at his City unveiling, laying on a dollop of drama.
"The only time he ever spoke to me was after the game with Roma when I needed to discuss my involvement with Argentina. I don't think that's a great way to treat a player.
"I didn't leave United because of the fans, I felt Ferguson didn't do enough to keep me there."
Years later Tevez would claim that Ferguson had promised him he would sign him on a permanent deal before going back on his word, and it was clear that his defection to City had angered the legendary boss.
"We stayed close friends and Mr Ferguson didn't always like that, especially when he saw us pictured outside a restaurant in a newspaper," continued Evra in that same 2016 interview.
"He didn't want his players associating with those from City, who were becoming a much stronger team, but I am not just a footballer, I am a man who is loyal to his friends and Carlito was my friend."
He certainly wasn't Ferguson's.
'RIP Fergie'
Tevez held aloft the offensive banner (Image: Mirror Screen Grab)
Tevez's first season at City was his most prolific in league football for any of his clubs as he hit 23 Premier League goals, following that up with 20 the following campaign as a Champions League place was secured, despite mid-season drama as he handed in a transfer request in an attempt to get an improved contract.
You always got the sense that Ferguson was watching such developments closely as he insisted United had dodged a particularly disruptive bullet, and early in the following season he got more ammunition.
In a Champions League game away at Bayern Munich in September 2011, Tevez had appeared to refuse to come off the bench with City 2-0 down, prompting a furious Mancini to declare that the forward would never play for the club again.
Tevez claimed that there had simply been a misunderstanding, but still gratefully accepted City's offer to place him on gardening leave pending a future transfer. He returned to Argentina and would seemingly never come back to the club. Ferguson was in his element.
"I am not saying this to have a go at Carlos," he said shortly after the incident, perhaps with a straight face.
"There will be cynics who say I have it in for him because of the circumstances through which he left Old Trafford under something of a cloud.
Mancini was left livid with Tevez (Image: Action Images)
"I never had a problem with Carlos and I am speaking critically of him now only because of my understanding of the difficult jobs managers face.
"The City boss's reaction was spot-on and sent a clear message to the rest of the players, not just at Eastlands but throughout the game.
"His handling of the situation distinguished him in managerial terms. I always admire the courage to do right, and that is what we are seeing here."
Tevez wasn't going to be silenced though.
After five months away from the first-team, the forward surprisingly returned in the March, going on to play in 10 Premier League matches as City snatched the title from United in dramatic fashion.
He started the famous game against QPR on the final day of the season, being withdrawn for Mario Balotelli in the 76th minute.
Balotelli would go on to tee up the winning goal for Sergio Aguero, the new Argentinean darling of the City fans, but Tevez wasn't to be denied the limelight.
The forward would eventually return to the fold (Image: Action Images)
At City's title parade he was seen holding aloft a banner that said 'RIP Fergie', which might have seemed like a good idea at the time, but had to draw a response from the club.
"The creation of the tasteless material is in itself reprehensible and in accepting and brandishing it, Carlos has made a significant error of judgment," said City.
"The club wishes to express its sincerest apologies to Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United Football Club for any offence or distress caused."
For a man who had once said United would never be underdogs to City "in my lifetime" the sight of Tevez rubbing in the title victory would have been hard to take.
But then the relationship between the pair never was a calm one.
Patrice Evra
Dimitar Berbatov
Martin Laursen
Gary Caldwell
Scott Carson
Michael Owen
UEFA Champions League Final
Mario Balotelli
Barclay's Premier League
FA CupWhat TV channel and time is Brighton v Liverpool on today? Live stream information, team news and moreBrighton face Liverpool in the fourth round of the FA Cup
What time and TV channel is Roscommon v Tyrone on today in the Allianz football league?
Jake Paul vs Tommy FuryJake Paul makes Tyson Fury laugh with comments about disowning brother TommyPaul repeated Tyson's vow about disowning brother Tommy if he loses in their grudge fight and the heavyweight champion couldn't hold in his laughter
Cristiano Ronaldo invites four ex-Man Utd teammates to visit him including Harry Maguire
Harry Maguire is amongst four Manchester United players to be invited by Cristiano Ronaldo out to Saudi Arabia following the 37-year-old's lucrative switch to Al-Nassr
Ireland striker Michael Obafemi completes loan move to Burnley
Republic of Ireland Soccer Team
The Republic of Ireland striker has joined until the end of the season, with the option of making the deal permanent in the summer
National Football LeagueRoscommon v Tyrone and Donegal v Kerry LIVE score updates, TV and stream details, start time and more for the Allianz League tiesFollow all the action from the Allianz Football League Division 1 clashes
Love Island's Will grovels to Jessie as she brands him 'dramatic and too much'
Love Island's Jessie tells Will he's 'dramatic' and 'too much' after slamming the farmer for his antics towards Elli in the Truth or Dare game
Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis spotted hugging as they reunite after custody battle
Olivia Wilde and her ex partner Jason Sudeikis have been battling it out over their two children after they split in 2020. The former couple were engaged for seven years before going their separate ways
Mortified woman 'can't go back' to personal trainer after progress picture blunder
Gemma Hill has left people in stitches after sharing a text message exchange with her personal trainer as she sent over progress pictures. However she was left mortified by his reply.