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Audio: Al-Qaeda in the United States
Audio: Al-Qaeda in the United States
- Feb 26, 2013
Duration: 53:24
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A Complete Analysis of Terrorism Offences
In recent years, several individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds have attempted to attack the United States on behalf of al-Qaeda. These individuals have defied easy categorization, creating challenges for intelligence, law enforcement, and other agencies tasked with countering their activities. However, with the publication of "Al-Qaeda in the United States", the Henry Jackson Society seeks to provide new insights into the al-Qaeda movement and its U.S. operations by rigorously analyzing those involved or affiliated with the organization. Please join CSIS and the Henry Jackson Society on February 26 for an on-the-record discussion of this new report and the nature of al-Qaeda-related terrorism in the United States.
General Michael Hayden (Ret.)
Former Director
Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency
Robin Simcox
Publication Author and Research Fellow
Henry Jackson Society
Moderated By:
Stephanie Sanok
Acting Director
CSIS Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Program
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- VideoFeb 26, 2013


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*STOLEN FROM xXGirlsThatRockXx *
(X) You start laughing hysterically at maps.
(X) You go "Aww" when you see two or more flags together.
(X) You've learned more history (Austria-Hungary Compromise, WWII) from it than from an actual history class.
( )You debate about details like whether the number on America's back is supposed to be 50 or 96...with supporting screenshots.
(X) You watch APH MADs (Music videos/parodies).
( ) You got a Nico Nico Douga account despite not knowing a single word of Japanese so you could watch even more APH MADs.
( ) You dress up in a scarf and party hat and sit behind a receptionist's desk for Halloween.
(X) World War II starts to sound romantic.
(X) Your teacher asks why you put "Alfred F. Jones" as the answer instead of America, and why you drew a small heart and the name "Arthur" beside it.
(X) You yell, "Yeah, he's the hero!" whenever someone says America.
(X) You misread UK as UKE every single time, and have started mispronouncing it in actual conversation.
(X) You know every country's flag and location, and people think you must be a huge history nerd, and really, you've become one.
( ) You shudder every time you hear the name "Russia" or "Ivan" and quickly glance over your shoulder...just in case.
(X) Whenever you see a fellow Hetalia fan, you shout, "Germaaaannnnyyyyy!" down the hallway.
(X) You write down your favorite pairings all over your history lecture notes, leaving others to wonder what "USxUK" means.
(x) You end every sentence with "aru." (Sometimes...aru~)
(X) You scream 'paaaaaaaaaastaaaaaaaaaaa' every time you happen to have some. (did at lunch XD)
(X) You can't imagine a functioning Italian mafia. (The mafia is mostly in the Southern side of Italy, so that justifies that.)
(X) You want Prussia back on the map.
(X) You can no longer say "international affairs" with a straight face.
(X) No one can mention a country without you thinking about what it looks like in Hetalia.
(X) You read a historical book and think it would make a good fanfic.
(X) Other people don't get it when you say your country's cute.
(X) You've listened to Romano's Delicious Tomato Song like...80 billion times.
( ) You're a duke/duchess of Sealand.
(X) You've become a thousand times more patriotic.
(X) You remember Canada Day BEFORE the 4th of July, as in, you completely forget about America's birthday.
(X) You want to learn every single language in the world. Even the weird ones.
(X) You recognize which flag belongs to which country, while everyone just looks at you funny.
(X) Everyone who's named Alfred, Arthur, Peter, Matthew, and Francis is forever linked to Hetalia.
(X) You have the APH skin/persona on Firefox.
(X) You spend more time looking in English speaking forums than in your native language forums because there's more Hetalia-related material there.
(X) If you speak English then you're seriously considering learning Japanese to read the (still) non-translated strips...
(X) You make appropriate doodles all over your history notes with the APH characters so they'll make more sense to you.
(X) You tell your fellow Hetalia fan friends to "become one with mother Russia".
(X) You tell even your non-Hetalia fan friends to "become one with mother Russia".
(X) You start nicknaming friends after countries they remind you of.
(X) You take a sudden interest in sunflowers.
(X) You think the USA should change the name to "The United States of Alfredia".
(X) You watch the news just so you can find good stuff to request in the kink meme.
(X) You would name your pet after your favorite Hetalia character
(X) You would name your UNBORN CHILDREN after your favorite Hetalia character.
(X) When assembling your Ikea furniture, you see a Made in Finland sticker on it and think, "Aw, the wife helps him make the furniture."
( ) When making Christmas cookies, instead of putting on normal icing, you put Hetalia chibi faces.
(X) Your mom thinks you are obsessed with world peace.
(X) You get a 117% A+ in your History class.
( ) You randomly start going "KOLKOLKOL" when angry.
( ) You want your own country to exist in the Hetalia world.
(X) You smile when hearing France.
(X) You squeal as you see a country's name somewhere in the place.
(X) You want to know what scones taste like.
(X) You wish they were all real.
(X) Your obsession with world history is multiplied to the power of PRUSSIA~!
() You consider Prussia as a number. (BECAUSE PRUSSIA IS AWESOME)
(X) You make random Hetalia references in the middle of a conversation.
(X) You nod your head and giggle like a crazy fangirl with each entry on the list.
(X) When you surf through the World News on Yahoo and the only thing you can think about is how these would make good one-shot Hetalia fics/fanart.
( ) Your mother thinks you have something against Poland after you tell the same Polish jokes countless times.
(X) You sing "bouno tomato" every time you see a tomato
(X) You're in denial that Prussia was dissolved after WWII.
(X) You call baby chicks
() You demand that hello kitty should have a mouth.
(X) You really, really want your history teacher to watch Hetalia...
(X) You laugh every time you see the Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, or Florida.
(X) "There are two Italy's!"
(X) You want to hug a freakin' landmass!
(X) You keep telling people you'll invade their vital regions...
(X) You memorize all the characters' birthdays and make sure to celebrate them in some way.
(X) You put a Hetalia reference in all of your school projects.
( ) You wonder why the polar bear at the zoo isn't talking to you.
(X) The Great Depression all of a sudden seems hilarious to you: "Your ass is MINE, America!"
(X) You explain that when the aliens attack, the first to go will be the British.
(X) You scream, "Happy Birthday Alfred" and/or "Take that Arthur" on the Fourth of July in a large crowd of people and are proud when they give you the WTF look.
(X) You know what Sealand is and people find you weird for telling them he's a little kid in a blue sailor suit that was for sale on eBay.
(X) When seeing the new Harry Potter movie the second time, the only thing you can think of is the infamous spoiler written all over England's torso.
(X) You feel yourself tearing-up while discussing the American Revolution.
(X) You expect the Polish exchange student to be a cross-dressing valley girl.
(X) The "True Italian Spirit" to you is only another way to say "We Surrender".
(X) The song "Santa Clause is coming to Town" seems like an odd rip-off of something written for Russia.
( ) You correct someone talking about a new discovery of some kind, telling them, "Korea already invented that".
(X) You find the song "Canada's really Big" or any other references to country's sizes amusingly inappropriate.
(X) You can tell America and
oh yeah, Canada apart!
(X) You WANT to watch the news and the Olympics.
(X) You smile when you see labels like 'Made in China' or 'Made in Russia'.
( ) Globes are now action figures.
(X) When talking about the 'continental drift theory' about Pangaea in geography-history class, you giggle uncontrollably.
(X) You take history class just to understand Hetalia more.
(X) You fangirl-squee at the mention of WWII.
(X) You believe that some one's personality will correspond with the country that they came from.
(X) You think that hamburgers should be The United State's national food.
(X) You have started eating more pasta to make a tribute to Italy.
(X) You think of Italy when you eat pasta, America when you eat hamburgers, Russia while drinking vodka, etc
( ) You tend to avoid anyone who is Russian because you are afraid of his or her cracked mentality.
( ) You start styling your hair after Italy's.
(X) You start styling your hair after anyone else's hair.
( ) You own a character costume.
( ) You have cosplayed as a character before.
(X) You have thought of cosplaying as a character before.
(X) You know Marukaite Chikyuu word for word
In more than one language.
(X) You know the words to any Hetalia song.
(X) You have a Hetalia song as your favorite song. {I have more than one Hetalia song that's my among favorites o3o}
( ) You have made up your own ending for a country that does not have one yet.
( ) You obsessively wait for each new episode to be released.
( ) You have uploaded one of the songs to Youtube.
(X) You plan on going to a foreign country in hopes that you will see your favorite character.
(X) You have written a fanfiction for APH.
(X) You have read a fanfiction for APH.
(X) You draw APH fanart.
(X) You tell people Austria put Italy in a maid costume when Austria owned Italy.
(X) You ask if countries are "married" when they form a union.
(X) You worry for a country's health when their stocks go down.
(X) You scribbled the name "England" on your notebook with little hearts next to it.
(X) You demand that Prussia becomes a country again because he was too awesome.
(X) You fully believe that Prussia is the most awesome country
(X) You tell people their eyebrows are similar to England's.
( ) You never let anyone sit down because his or her chair might be Busby's chair.
(X) You tell people the answer to global warming is building a big hero to protect the Earth.
(X) You demand everyone you know to become one with Russia.
(X) You ARE one with Russia.
( ) You have drawn a half-smile on a Hello Kitty plush.
(X) Wars seem to become hilarious.
(X) You claim that aliens do exist
and live with America.
( ) You debate who would win in arm wrestling: the allies or the axis?
(X) You raise your hand in class just to scream "PASTAAA~!"
(X) You yell "Pastaa~!" anywhere in public.
( ) You start planting sunflowers.
(X) You spend a full day searching the Hetalia wiki to learn about the characters
( ) You knit yourself a cream-colored scarf just like Russia's.
(X) You start noticing all of the China jokes.
( ) You hate South Korea for demanding Im Yong Soo to be removed.
(X) You started a petition to get South Korea on the Anime show, or have signed one.
(X) You have completed all of the Hetalia memes. {More and more keep popping up every day, seriously.}
(X) You claim to have married a country.
(X) You know every pairing in the book. {Crack happens, so you never know. (e.g. UKxHRE(?))}
( ) You created a pairing (or more
(X) You wish Rome were your grandfather.
( ) You spend day after day trying to find rape faces in the manga.
( ) When you want a tomato, you say "Spain! Get me a tomato, damnit!"
(X) Sink Faucets now fascinate you.
(X) You tell people that Germany was just misunderstood during WWII.
(X) You now refer to Germany as "Doitsu".
(X) You believe every Austrian is an angry musical genius.
( ) You own a world map
that only shows America.
(X) You never want to go to England because you are afraid of their food.
(X) You claim to have seen fairies and unicorns.
( ) You can put a curse on somebody you hate.
(X) You can't roast marshmallows on the campfire anymore. It feels like summoning the devil to you.
(X) You spend day after day trying to figure out how Germany is connected to HRE or if he is HRE. (Sami: HE IS NOT!! D<)
( ) You dream of becoming your own country.
(X) You refer to every country's king/queen/president/etc as their "boss".
(X) You have taken it to yourself to create OC's for countries not represented in Hetalia.
(X) You now know that the neutral men are the scariest.
( ) Wursts have now replaced sausages.
() In your eyes, the axis powers seem so much better than the allies do.
(X) You believe that Italy can make men gay
for him.
( ) You make "Happy Birthday" cards for all of the nation's birthdays.
( ) You have tried numerous times to figure out what "Hetalia" actually means.
() You do needlepoint now because England does it.
( ) Every time anybody mentions any object, you tell him or her, "that was created in Korea, you know
(X) You have a conniption fit every time somebody refers to China as a "she".
( ) Planes suddenly interest you.
(X) Jiiiii is a word in your vocabulary.
(X) You wonder why Italy opens his eyes only once or twice during the entire Anime/Manga.
(X) Large eyebrows and big noses are suddenly very appealing to you.
(X) You know the WWII uniform of every nation.
( ) You now mass-produce white flags.
(X) You use chairs and pans as weapons.
(X) You know where every nation's erogenous zone is.
( ) Germany is a saint in your eyes.
(X) When the teacher calls on you during class, and instead of answering his question, you take up the whole period explaining what happened during WWII.
( ) You had your life's nightmare. And it was about Hetalia.
(X) You laugh if a country's "vital regions" are discussed in the news/media.
( ) You question why only a few countries use Japanese as the foremost language.
(X) When in a conversation about APH, you specifically use both country and human names to confuse the people around you.
(X) You walk into a Hello Kitty store and ask where the Shinatty-Chan merchandise is.
(X) You take time out of your day to look up country relationships on Wikipedia.
( ) You have to remind people that Hong Kong is NOT the capital of China.
(X) Others ask you what you mean by "England is so cute when he's Tsundere."
(X) You find yourself thinking the best conversation you've ever heard is this:
Italy: France nii-san, what is intercourse?
France: Don't you know, Ita-chan? It's what you do with someone you like. So
do you like me?
( ) You correct your history teacher, telling them that the pact of seal between Germany and Italy was actually a pinky swear.
(X) You have full out and vicious debates on what side (the Axis or Allies) would win in a fist fight.
(X) You imagine, when in a state of insane exhilaration or any kind of insanity emotion, you have the same menacing purple aura that often haunts Russia when he's "happy."
(X) A tomato crate seems like the best hiding place during a war.
() You know the songs "Fat na kare", "Oyayubi no Tsukaikata", "Makka na Ito", "Yokan", "Gibusu", "Lion", "Tetsukazu No Sekai" and "Utsukushii Namae", have downloaded them onto your iTunes, and listen to them daily.
(X) You try to convince your history teacher to play Chibitalia episodes when learning about the Austrian Wars.
(X) Upon looking at your YouTube favorites, you find that APH videos have filled up at least two pages of space.
(X) You realize there's always someone underneath the cute mascot uniforms.
(X) You discover the joys of the Sexy Waiter outfit.
(X) You explain to others that condoms are the best weapons in psychological warfare.
( ) You want your own pink kitty backpack.
(X) "Flower-Egg" seems like the best name for your new puppy.
(X) England wearing America's jacket is probably one of the best things that's ever happened to you.
(X) Upon being scolded by a teacher when caught watching/reading APH in class, you explain that you're merely studying for your History exam.
(X) You watch movies/plays/musicals/etc., place APH characters in the roles and plan your parody fanfiction of it.
(X) You automatically think of mochimerica when you see something of the same shape/color.
( ) Shinatty-chan becomes a frequent doodle on your notebook and you have to explain that it is not hello kitty, but a fat, old guy in a hello kitty imitation outfit.
(X) You spout random facts about various countries and revel in the fact that no one else knows about them.
( ) You have a French exchange student, and you expect them to be just like France... and are fascinated that, yes they are.
(X) You suddenly take great pleasure in learning about your lineage and relating it to Hetalia characters.
( ) You start assigning your best friends countries and when you get together you call it a "World Conference."
( ) Said friends start forming the pairings you support.
(X) Suddenly, the image of America is no longer of Uncle Sam or Lady Liberty in your head.
(X) You can't think the word 'invade' anymore and just say 'rape'.
(X) You call the countries by their human names.
(X) You make all your friends take quizzes to see what country they are and then you call them by their country name.
(X) You surf the internet, and scan your history books for anything to support your favorite shippings.
(X) When people say Hetalia is gay, you scream, "You're just mad because Holy Roman Empire didn't love you!"
(X) You know what Prussia is. {He is AWESOME >:3}
(X) You try to convince people that you are the hero.
(X) McDonalds is your home away from home.
( ) You get mad when your friends/family refuses to call you by your country name.
( ) Starbucks thinks you're crazy because when they ask your name you just say your country.
(X) You take pride in whichever side your country was in (Axis or Allied.)
( ) You throw tomatoes at people.
( ) You dress up in a panda suit and stalk people.
(X) You get insulted when people think Chibitalia is a girl.
(X) You screamed when HRE kissed Chibitalia.
( ) You refuse to believe that Germany and Italy are not meant to be.
( ) You walk around with chickens.
( ) You have ordered a character cosplay a year in advanced for a con.
(X) Your YouTube and dA pages have Hetalia plastered all over them.
(X) You think Germany is sexy, Russia is cute, and Prussia is awesome.
(X) You get angry when people don't notice Canada.
(X) You listen to a song and you put the song with a character from Hetalia.
(X) Your history teacher is afraid to say "America" in class because you end up yelling, "America! F**k yeah!"
( ) You carry around a white flag.
( ) When someone tells you to put the said flag away, you reply, "But it's part of my religion
( ) You hide any time you hear a girl say, "Marry me."
( ) You walk around in a sailor suit.
( ) You play the piano to show your emotions.
( ) You can't stop shaking when you are at an Italian restaurant.
( ) You wear a mask, and glare at any Greek.
() You have a secret stash of porn videos in your house.
( ) You decided to wear a scarf everywhere even if it's a blazing hot outside.
( ) You constantly tell your family you're going to invade them if they get on your nerves.
( ) You are sent to therapy for crying hysterically and yelling at the TV/computer when HRE had to leave Chibitalia.
( ) You can't stop talking to your therapist about your secret plan for taking over every country and having them become one with you.
( ) You are then kicked out of said therapy for showing up one day with only a rose on.
( ) When you eat at Italian restaurants, you ask to talk to "Feliciano/N.Italy" and if Ludwig is with him.
(X) You are all of a sudden obsessive with cats.
(X) You call yourself "awesome" every chance you get.
() You carry around a bear of some sort.
(X) Alfred is your new Hero.
( ) You clean your entire house in a maid costume.
( ) You clean your friend's house, still in a maid costume.
(X) You sit on your computer for hours waiting for the new APH episode to become English subbed.
( ) You interview people about Christmas.
( ) When people try to hurt you, you scream, "I'm sorry I'm sorry! Don't hurt me please, I have relatives living in [insert were you live here]! Germany, Germany, save me!"
(X) You like red now.
(X) You think the cold war between America and Russia was really a fight to see who is on top. (= ω
( ) You grow out your eyebrows.
( ) You carry around your favorite character/nations flag.
(X) You can talk about nothing but Hetalia.
( ) You are over-protective of your little brother.
(X) You love to give hugs/kisses.
( ) You try to get everyone around you to strip in gym class. {"If it's swimming class, you just enjoy the show, mes ami~" */shot France}
() You get angry with people who talk about Sealand not being a country.
(X) Hetalia comes up in every topic.
( ) You start a Hetalia club.
( ) You wear glasses just to look like Alfred.
( ) You try your hardest to look like your older brother.
(X) You just became a cross dresser.
(X) You like pyramids a bit too much.
() You wear a large iron cross necklace.
( ) When you dress up as Santa, you wear a blonde wig, and only have a cape and hat, and demand to be called Finland.
(X) You downloaded all the Hetalia endings and put them all on your iPod/mp3 player.
( ) You jump out of a plane and yell, "Vodkaa~!" on the way down.
( ) You started to drink tea with every meal.
( ) Your dream is to live in a warm place filled with sunflowers.
( ) The song "We didn't start the fire" makes you laugh.
(X) You cheer for your favorite characters when you watch international sports! (Or the Olympics!)
(X) If an art teacher tells you to draw the Earth, you just draw a circle.
( ) You drink from your boot.
( ) You call your grandpa Roman Empire.
(X) Instead of studying for a History test, you just watch Hetalia.
(X) You say, "I live in the united states of Alfred!"
(X) When you hear someone talking about the merging of France and England, you suddenly scream, "HE WAS FORCED I TELL YOU, FORCED!"
( ) You keep Machiavelli in your suitcase to prepare for war.
( ) All your friends build sand castles, and you build giant plates of spaghetti.
(X) You can't wait until you're in heaven or hell.
(X) You point out every country you know on a map and talk about them.
(X) You see a bunch of country flags and point at them while screaming "HETALIA!! HETALIA!!"
(X) You answer the phone, saying, "Doitsu! Doitsu!" (to Kaitlyn)
( ) You carry with you a lead pipe.
(X) You suggest to your history teacher that the class watch Hetalia when studying World War II.
(X) The only reason you know anything about World War II is thanks to Hetalia.
(X) You nominate every day as 'Hetalia Day.' {There's actually a real celebration called Hetalia Day October 24.}
(X) The only reason you like History is because of Hetalia.
(X) You draw Hetalia characters all over your history notes.
(X) You call people "Potato Bastard."
(X) You study history when you're supposed to study physics and/or chemistry.
( ) Your room has Hello Kitty, even if you're a boy, and you scream that Hello Kitty is for real MEN like Wang Yao!
(X) When talking about WWII, you can't help but imagine the characters running around with water guns.
(X) You smile when you hear about alliances on the news.
(X) You relate everyday items to Hetalia (Maple syrup, roses, McDonalds, bad cooking, etc., etc....)
(X) You start laughing randomly in US history when your teacher says terms like "Non-Intercouse Act" and "America invaded Canada."
(X) Every time when you find out that your nation was some history with a foreign nation, you start pairing them up.
(X) You have converted to Yaoism because of Hetalia.
(X) Your mom stares at you when you complain that her cooking is worse than England's. {Proof that British cooking sucks? They invented the veggie burger.}
(X) You thought about Finland in a Santa costume at least once on Christmas Day.
( ) You stayed up all night Christmas Eve waiting for Finland to arrive.
( ) When you watch King Arthur, you see him trying to break free from Rome, and can't help but giggle/grin.
(X) When watching movies based on the 9th-14th century, you can't help but smile at the mention of Rome, France and England, especially when they're up against each other in war.
(X) When you find an "Edict from the King of Prussia" in your lit book and freak out (or when you get excited every time someone mentions Prussia).
() You are then extraordinarily disappointed when it's not actually from the king of Prussia.
(X) You realize it's even funnier that America tried to get Prussia to tax England during the Revolution.
( ) You draw a comic about said situation.
(X) You can't refer to nations as it's or she's anymore (except when they're Hungary, Liechtenstein, etc).
(X) Your dad now thinks APH is pretty darn cool.
( ) You laughed aloud when your dad talked about an alternate-history version of the Kalmar Union where "it was Sweden dominating Denmark, and not Denmark dominating."
(X) You draw eyebrows on the country of England when bored in history class.
(X) You know more about Prussia than your world history teacher.
(X) You ask your history teacher about the things you seen in Hetalia and actually start a debate about it.
( ) You write a love letter to a country and ask a friend who's going there for vacation to give the love letter to such country.
(X) You can't look at a history book with a straight face.
() You want to compare England's food with every other country's own dishes.
(X) You and your friend have had an argument, in character, about who's more awesome, Prussia-sama or America. (once again, me and Kaitlyn XD)
(X) Said argument ended when Prussia-sama decided to use his "secret weapon".
( ) The Roman Empire has become "Roma-jii-chan" in your notes, or RJC for short.
( ) Ancient Greece is Mama Greece in your notes.
(X) The UK, or England, has become Iggy in your notes.
(X) As you were reading the lists in this thread, you kept nodding/smiling/laughing like a maniac.
(X) You're still reading this list.
(X) You get upset when your favorite characters aren't included in MADs, quizzes, etc.
(X) It makes you sad that some characters (Prussia-sama, Greece, Sweden, etc.) don't get much screen time.
(X) You want to find people that are the Bad Friends Trio.
(X) You want to make your own BFT with two other people.
(X) You've used "PRUSSIA INVADES YOUR VITAL REGIONS!" to win an argument.
(X) Pasta will forever be associated with "PAAASTAAAAA~!"
( ) Your bookmark says, "[Name of your favorite country] is here."
(X) You feel like you're betraying your own country when you declare that you are/your favorite is a different one, and then realize that you don't care.
(X) You can now imagine one or more male /nations/characters in a frilly maid outfit.
( ) You make your own china town in your closet.
(X) You actually show your history teacher Hetalia.
(X) You start comparing your favorite country to yourself, family, and friends, or just random people near you.
(X) You say to yourself, "I never knew my country was so sexy!!"
( ) You look at any white cloth and start to laugh.
( ) Every time you look at a wooden chair, you laugh and think of England.
( ) You're on vacation in the Bahamas and act as if you're stranded on an island.
(X) You're at the beach and you doodle Hetalia chibis in the sand or make a bowl of pasta out of the sand.
(X) You sabotage someone else's artwork on the board and make everyone in the room think, "Who did that?"
(X) When your history teacher asks you to name all of the Axis and Allied countries, you get all of them correct in perfect order.
(X) When your history teacher talks about the war between England and America, you get sudden flash backs from the show and go "Aw~".
(X) Every time you eat at McDonalds, you imagine America saying "I'm loving' it" while eating a hamburger.
(X) When you go get Chinese and see the stir fry pan and ladle, you think about how China owned Germany and Japan in episode 18.
(X) You never get tired of talking, watching, reading, singing, breathing, or living Hetalia.
( ) You think everything is made in Korea.
(X) The mention of five meters and vital regions will make you laugh so hard.
() You always type PRUSSIA in big letters.
(X) You declare Lithuania to be your favorite country in the world despite not knowing anything about it.
(X) Switzerland is now the most badass country EVER.
(X) Whenever you hear the word French maid, you think of France in a skirt...
(X) You explain to your friends how French Envelope is another way to say Condom.
( ) You explain to your friends that Rubber is the British way of saying Eraser.
(X) Screaming out country's names is now a hobby ("ITALIA!!!!" "AMERICA!!!" "IGIRISU!!!!" "DOITSU!!!" "NIPPON!!!!" "OH MY GWAD! IT'S RUSSIA!!!!").
(X) You imagine all Swiss people have shotguns to shoot people streaking across their lawns...
( ) You made a MapleStory avatar for Switzerland, Egypt, America, Lithuania, Poland, Austria, Taiwan, China, Russia, and Liechtenstein....
(X) You try obsessively to get your friends and relatives into the show.
(X) "Invaded my vital regions" has become your favorite quote.
(X) You watched so many Hetalia MADs and is still very updated to the ones that pop up recently.
( ) You tried to make a version of the ending song in your native language... and failed because Cantonese is much too difficult in terms of pronunciation.
(X) You go on Hidekaz's blog every hour to check for any updates.
(X) Whenever you pass an automatic sliding door, you think Canada is opening it for you.
( ) You get a white dog and name it (bloody) Hanatomago.
(X) You would give pasta or ice cream as a birthday gift.
( ) You can never stop looking over your shoulder, since Russia might be there
(X) Whenever someone mentions British butlers, your mind goes to a dirty place.
(X) You can't think about anything with the word French in it with a straight face.
( ) You now confuse your parents because now you want to talk about history at the dinner table.
( ) You now want to spend a lot of money on old maps and globes that show "joined countries".
() Your battle cry is VODKAAAA~ in honor of Russia.
( ) Your waxer treats you like an escapee from the crazy house when you tell them that you need your eyebrows waxed. They are starting to look like England's.
(X) Your goal in life is to sit on Busbys chair... and survive. {It actually exists.}
(X) You talk to your favorite character in their native language. (Ich liebe du Deutschland X3)
( ) You are constantly repressing the urge to giggle while sitting in German class and the teacher starts talking about German history.
( ) You're in German class and you accidently refer to German as a he or use Der as its article (in German, the articles are der, die or das for male, female or neutral respectively.)
(X) You read as much APH doujinshi as possible, no matter how mentally scarring.
(X) You are still reading this.
(X) You no longer feel awkward about pairing countries!
( ) You try to come up with matching catch phrases for the countries KARTOFFLN!
(X) You get weird looks from your teachers when they hear you say, "America needs to get into England's pants."
( ) You watch The Young Victoria, and at the scene of the marriage between her and Prince Albert, all you think about is England and Germany getting married.
() You actually miss Global History.
(X) You feel awesome about living in a country that is portrayed as a goofball in the series.
(X) You want to go to England just to try the food.
(X) You refuse to brush out/comb out your bed hair because one strand of hair is sticking out exactly like Italy's ahoge.
(X) You mistake the 'Italia' in Italia Iron Chef Showdown as Hetalia.
(X) You read this list so far, and it probably took you an hour or two.
(X) You have a gun fetish because of Switzerland.
( ) You've made OCs for all the ancient countries (ie Mama Greece, Mama Egypt, Scandinavia, etc.).
( ) You tried to make a huge family tree using your ancient OCs, the actual Hetalia characters, and some modern OCs.
( ) While making said tree, you gave yourself a migraine trying to decide exactly where to put Holy Roman Empire and Germany.
( ) You couldn't decide who should be Veneciano and Romano's grandmother.
( ) You racked your brain in an effort to explain how America (Alfred) and Canada (Matthew) could be blond with blue eyes if they were born before England and everyone else got there (my theory is that their mother had a one night stand with Scandinavia, aka the Viking that totally beat Columbus by 500 years ).
(X) You had an O_O moment when you realized just how old China (Yao) is.
(X) You start cracking up when you realize just how many little brothers/sisters Spain had at his peak (how in the world could he handle all of south America, central America, Mexico, AND Romano?!).
( ) Whenever your very small niece/nephew/cousin/brother/sister asks you, "Who is Santa?" you explain, "He is a blonde blue eyed young man from Finland and comes every time whenever you want to celebrate Christmas. He rides the Finland Airlines pulled by reindeers. His favorite pet is named Bloody Hanatamago. And can summon snow at will! What's that? Old? No! Who the hell said that to you? Have YOU seen him? Rudolph was his favorite pet? It's BLOODY HANA TAMAGO, DAMMIT!"
( ) You Celebrate Christmas in January 7! ozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom!!!
( ) You are afraid of Santa Statues because you believe that he will move once Christmas comes. You know he is watching you
(X) You don't say "pasta" anymore you say, "PAAAASTAAAAAAAAAAAAA~!!!!!"
(X) You noted a country's independence/foundation/flag day in your planner, and even drew little flags.
( ) You can differentiate the Austrian and the Latvian flag with a glance.
() You don't say Maroon anymore. You say Latvian Red.
(X) You believe that every Red Cross Volunteer has a shotgun. {The Red Cross symbol is actually the inverted colors of the Swiss flag.}
( ) You cried when your father gave you a Swiss Knife. You wanted a Swiss gun.
(X) You hear someone speak like a Val Girl, you think, "that person must be Polish".
(X)You turned into a fujoshi ("Fu"= rotten "Joshi"= girl a girl who has a rotten mind, and always think of yaoi.).
(X) You speak like a Val Girl to refer to, like, Poland. And, like, all its topics, that like concern or what-everr, about Poland should totally be spoken in like Val Speak. Or else, it's totally not like Poland anymore! You know!
(X) You believe that all pirates are English. {There are also Spanish, hur, hur ;3}
() You watch Jamie Oliver (the Brit cook) and wonder why he doesn't cook badly.
( ) You know the national flower of each country!
(X) You are up until 1:40 AM, reading APH fanfiction and trying to suppress your stupid squeals in an attempt not wake up your family. And it is a school night.
(X) Firefox stops putting the red line under Hetalia.
(X) You made "Hetalia" a part of the dictionary in MS Word.
( ) Whenever someone asks you who Heidi is, you say HE's a cross-dressing boy from the Alps with a shotgun beneath his skirt, on a swing. And if you get on his nerve he'll shoot you dead.
( ) You refer to the red old guy, who everybody refers to as Santa Clause, as Ded Moroz/ Grandpa Frost.
(X) You buy metal wire and make you and your friends wear-able ahoge accessories.
( ) When bad things happen, you want to be a cat.
( ) You see your Australian friend and keep a close eye out for the rabid koala just in case.
(X) Your teacher tells you to draw a country, you draw the character that represents it~!
(X) You're sitting in class, your teacher is Chinese and you can't stop putting '-aru' at the end of his sentences in your head.
(X) You draw a lot of APH chibis.
(X) You LSS of Marukaite Chikyuu of different countries and you won't even notice that you're already mumbling its lyrics like in a trance....
(X) Your teacher talks about the Nordic countries, you can't help but picture a family-get-together.
( ) You put Hetalia in your science project.
() You say pink you think RUSSIA. {Russian potato salad, anyone?}
( ) You wrote to Toei to make a new season of Power Rangers called Power Rangers Allied Forces.
( ) You and your friends are fighting over who will be America Red in aforementioned Power Rangers Allied Forces. (Ah, childhood days~)
() You're studying Italy's wars and you can't stop thinking about Chibitalia and Holy Roman Empire.
(X) You always chat with your classmates about Hetalia.
( ) You always say, "I have the blessing of Britannia Angel."
(X) You get a high mark in an English test.
( ) You follow a guy because he's exactly like Poland.
(X) Your mother says, "I love Greece" and you stare at her, then start to giggle hysterically.
( ) You collect the new Sweden-Finland commemorative coins.
(X) Your list of "places to visit before I die" has grown immensely.
(X) You're super-focused on an historical TV program, and if someone dare to disturb you, you give them an earful.
(X) You're watching a quiz program on TV, and when there comes a question of the name of the small country between Switzerland and Austria, you shout, "LIECHTENSTEIN!" Then, you call the guy on the show an idiot for getting the wrong answer (you were right).
(X) You get all the history questions on quiz shows right (and everyone gives you WTF looks).
( ) The book "Exploring the 50 States" makes you laugh.
(X) You know how many eyebrow lines Arthur (England) has. {There are five}
(X) You and your Hetalia friend scare another classmate. For fangirling.
(X) You think it's natural for a country to have gender and sexuality.
(X) History and Geography classes suddenly became more interesting.
(X) You know where Belarus, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Seychelles are on the map.
() You're sad if your country isn't represented.
( ) If Austria is one of your favorite characters, you became more interested in classic music.
(X) You made more than one request on Hetalia kink meme.
(X) You laugh spontaneously in the middle of history/geography class.
( ) You have printed out all of the APH strips you could find and keep them in your wallet instead of money.
( ) You write all your favorite pairings across your history/geography teacher's whiteboard.
(X) You gasp dramatically when someone asks you what "APH" stands for and then laugh when they think it's the initials of your new boyfriend/girlfriend.
(X) You're (or were) counting down the days until the Hetalia movie comes out (June 5th!).
(X) You're upset that the regular-Monday-episode has still not been uploaded yet it's already Friday.
(X) You start writing your own fanfics because you've just got to show everyone how it's done!
( ) You read Machiavelli's "The Prince" just for fun.
(X) You listened to Hetalia music/watched Hetalia the whole time you were doing this list
(X) You listen to multi-language Disney music because of Hetalia
(X) If said Disney music has an attached Hetalia video, you watched it and it made you cry
several times
(X) You've downloaded all 16 character songs, all 17 Marukaite's, all the Hatte Futte's, AND all the OSTs/Background Music from Hetalia AND Paint It White, PLUS the other songs (i.e; Grandpa Rome's song, UK's Campfire Song, Italy's Song to Doitsu, etc etc)
(X) You have over 400 pictures of just ONE Hetalia couple on your computer
( ) You've saved every picture from the blog
( ) You've actually had the tea with the picture of Japan/Germany/England on it
(X) You have the bootleg figurines but didn't know they were bootlegs at the time
(X) You've listened to all the drama CDs even though you can't understand Japanese
(X) You've read the entire list to the end
And still want to add some more xD
I know why Jamie Oliver is a good cook. 0_0 Arthur sucks at cooking, but his 2P's name is Oliver. Since 2P's are their evil opposites, Oliver must be good at cooking. Jamie Oliver. Jamie OLIVER. I just cracked the case. BOOSH >3<
When the test part hit...I did two...and both times I was N. italy! (so happy!!!)
Would it be sad if I told you my friend shifts between Belarus, Hungary and Korea in our group?
And that she spent a good three hours hunting for the Russia/Austria of our group?
And that the reason she didn't hunt the China is because I was the China?
And that we went up to people and asked them, "Have you seen Russia or Austria (aru)?"
Also, during a school competition, my class did a Canada and wasn't mentioned. (We came 2nd) I was very annoyed, aru.
And that she spent a good three hours hunting for the Russia/Austria of our group?
And that the reason she didn't hunt the China is because I was the China?
And that we went up to people and asked them, "Have you seen Russia or Austria (aru)?"
Also, during a school competition, my class did a Canada and wasn't mentioned. (We came 2nd) I was very annoyed, aru.
Slams head on the desk* Never....again....will I read ANY meme you have in your journal *shudders* Soooo looooooooooong
What's really sad...is that I've not even made it past episode 5 in Hetalia...so why I acctually read all the way through, I'll never know.
*finally finished reading after one hour* epicness
you know what I just found out? I found out that my teacher like is working on that series. O: (something like that i was half asleep. She said Hetalia and Black butler? i think.) XD but this is one long ass list dudette

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Nile Rodgers has announced that he's working on an upcoming 'lost' Chic album.
The legendary producer told Digital Spy at last night's Brit Awards that he recently unearthed material that was originally recorded by the band 30 years ago.
That was at a time when original core members of Chic, Tony Thompson (drums) and Bernard Edwards (bass) were both still alive.
"I'm doing a new Chic album now," he said. "When I was working on my solo album and David Bowie's solo album back in 1983, I was cutting demos with my old band.
"I like to affectionately call it the 'Lost Chic Tapes' because they just disappeared until recently. I've already written hooks to five of the songs. They're so amazing."
Rodgers and his frequent collaborator Pharrell Williams appeared together at the Brit Awards to perform a medley of Happy and Get Lucky.
The 61-year-old also accepted the International Group Award on behalf of Daft Punk.


text:
Saturday likely marked end of Missouri, Kansas rivalry
Sunday, February 26, 2012
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Capturing the mood as well as anyone on this historic day was the student who came dressed as John Brown.
Decked out in 19th-century garb and with a thick beard dyed gray, Brian Duerksen did look eerily like the famed Kansas abolitionist as he held trophies symbolizing Kansas' 2008 Orange Bowl triumph in one hand and 2008 NCAA basketball championship in the other and struck a magisterial pose.
It was, after all, the slavery issue that tore the nation apart in the 1860s and sparked hatred and violence along the Kansas-Missouri border, helping to create one of the most unique collegiate rivalries this country has ever seen.
As the mayhem came to a boil, anti-slavery Kansans calling themselves Jayhawkers nearly destroyed the little town of Osceola, Mo., getting away before the pro-slavery militia known as the Missouri Tigers could ride to its defense.
In retaliation for that atrocity and others, William Quantrill's pro-slavery Raiders rode out of Missouri, murdered about 200 men and burned Lawrence to the ground.
After the Civil War put an end to slavery, Kansans and Missourians put down their guns, picked up footballs and basketballs and took out their animosity in less violent ways.
Conceived in blood and battle, their hot, spirited rivalry endured for more than a century. It survived two World Wars, Korea and Vietnam. It was alive the night the Titanic sank. It went on through Prohibition, the Great Depression, the Civil Rights movement and the destruction of the Twin Towers.
It was still going when Barack Obama became the first black man to be elected President of the United States.
In some sense, there's been no rivalry like it.
But now it is no more — unless the Tigers and Jayhawks meet again in the postseason. Missouri is headed to the Southeastern Conference next season and a bitter Kansas, feeling resentful and rejected, remains in a Big 12 that looked for a while as though it might fall apart.
With practically everybody in Kansas from coach Bill Self to Gov. Sam Brownback saying they have no interest in ever accepting Missouri's invitation to play as non-conference foes, everyone knew Saturday's game would probably be Missouri's last trip to Allen Fieldhouse.
Even before tipoff, the tradition-steeped building was rim-rattling loud, so noisy holding a conversation with anyone not right in your ear was nearly impossible.
There have been plenty of big games in the 56-year-old arena, famous for being one of the loudest venues in college basketball. But it may never have been so loud as in the final minutes when No. 4 Kansas, after erasing a 19-point second-half deficit, emerged with an 87-86 overtime win against No. 3 Missouri.
It was a bittersweet moment for fans on both sides of the divide.
Other rivalries such as Auburn-Alabama and Texas-Oklahoma have drawn more national headlines. But did Auburn ever ransack homes and burn crops in Tuscaloosa? Did the Oklahoma National Guard ever sneak across the Red River in the dead of night and sack Dallas?
"I think it's a crying shame we'll never play again in the regular season," said sophomore Gwen Wright, hoisting a sign in the student section that read: "Kansas 15 Final Fours, Missouri 0."
As sign-toting students and fans old enough to be their grandparents poured into Kansas' venerable gym, animosity, anger and nostalgia were in the air.
"I don't know if this is the biggest game ever in Allen Fieldhouse," said Max Falkenstein, whose 60-year broadcast career included the very first game in the fieldhouse in 1955 when Wilt Chamberlain scored 52 against Kansas State.
"But I can't think of a bigger one. I'd say this is the most emotional game ever here."
Kansas fans have always enjoyed knowing they held the moral high ground on the original issue that so violently separated the two states and love to brag about being to so many Final Fours while Missouri has never made it past the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament.
But Missouri knows it was invited to join a bigger, richer conference while Kansas would have been left out in the cold if the Tigers' departure had led to the collapse of the Big 12.
"Missouri is the one that started this thing," Brownback said. "And now they're kind of going, 'Oh, well, come on, can't we play?'" This has been very difficult for us. This is like a guy divorcing you and then saying, 'Oh, say, can we still date?' I don't think so."
Said one sign, pointing to Kansas' lopsided advantage in the series: "171-95 — we see why you're leaving."
Said another: "We won't miss you."
But they probably will. Century-old rivalries take a long time to grow.
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text:
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text: Personalised Envelope Cufflinks by Maria Allen Boutique £55$105.95€70.79$84.28 325 customer reviews(325) In stock £19.50$37.56€25.10$29.88 delivery to China Receive this item 5-10 working days from dispatch International delivery available word/s on front of wooden insert in cufflink 1 (up to 4 words) (required) word/s on front of wooden insert in cufflink 2 (up to 4 words) (required) engrave back of wooden letter inserts?engrave back of wooden letter inserts? (required)Yes (+ £10)Noengrave back of wooden letter inserts? (required)Yes (+ $19.26)Noengrave back of wooden letter inserts? (required)Yes (+ €12.87)Noengrave back of wooden letter inserts? (required)Yes (+ $15.32)No word/s on back of wooden insert in cufflink 1 (if applicable) (up to 4 words) word/s on back of wooden insert in cufflink 2 (if applicable) (up to 4 words) font stylefont style (required)Calligraphy style (photo 1)Typewriter style (photo 3)font style (required)Calligraphy style (photo 1)Typewriter style (photo 3)font style (required)Calligraphy style (photo 1)Typewriter style (photo 3)font style (required)Calligraphy style (photo 1)Typewriter style (photo 3) quantity by Maria Allen Boutique Location: East Sussex, GB read seller's profile see seller's complete range more items from this seller Handwritten Personalised Envelope Cufflinks by Maria Allen Boutique £58$111.73€74.65$88.88 Personalised Wooden Honeymoon Luggage Tags by Maria Allen Boutique £34$65.49€43.76$52.10 Personalised Compact Compass by Maria Allen Boutique £28$53.93€36.04$42.91 Personalised Wooden Plectrum by Maria Allen Boutique £25$48.16€32.18$38.31 Personalised Wooden Initial Luggage Tag by Maria Allen Boutique £24$46.23€30.89$36.78 Personalised Wooden Coin Tray by Maria Allen Boutique £25$48.16€32.18$38.31 view all you may also like PRODUCT DETAILS CUSTOMER REVIEWS DELIVERY RETURNS Made in Britain can be personalised exclusive eco-friendly ask seller a question save for later A beautiful pair of personalised envelope cufflinks containing wooden letters, etched with your choice of words. The original personalised envelope cufflinks! Featuring two high-shine envelopes that open and contain personalised wooden letters. These cufflinks are carefully handmade for you in our Brighton studio where the durable wooden letters are laser cut from British wood, and your personalised message is laser etched onto the wooden inserts. A long-lasting sentimental gift for any special occasion. Whether it's a birthday, Christmas, Anniversary or your Wedding day these cufflinks would make a lovely sentimental gift to be treasured by your loved one. Particularly fitting for a 5th Anniversary present when wooden gifts are traditionally given. You can choose to have a different message on each of the wooden letter inserts, and can personalise both the front and the back with up to four words of your choice. If you would like to see how your messages will look before we make your cufflinks, please send us a message and we will allow you to approve or make changes to the artwork before your wooden letters are carefully etched. We are able to create the message in any language, and can add a heart symbol on to your message. Please just write '(heart symbol)' where you would like the heart. You can choose to have your message engraved in our calligraphy font (photo 1) or typewriter font (photo 3). If you choose our calligraphy font please note we will not be able to engrave your message in all capital letters due to the nature of the font. If we receive a personalised message that is all in capitals we will alter it to have the first letter capital and the rest lower case. If you would like your message in full capital letters please select our typewriter font. These envelope cufflinks come beautifully gift wrapped in a gift box and tied with ribbon. made from: The wooden letters are made of British Boxwood. The cufflinks are rhodium plated and have a luxurious high-shine finish. dimensions: The envelopes measure 2.0 x 1.5cm, with hinges on the top to allow the envelope to open. The cufflinks measure 2.3cm from front to back. product code: 292958 325 customer reviews Wed 06 Apr 2016 Absolutely in love with the idea of envelope cufflinks! Made of high quality materials and beautifully personalised. I ordered these as a gift and the recipient was touched by their uniqueness and creativity. Great seller with very fast delivery. Thank you! Wed 24 Feb 2016 Beautiful and unique gift with a very special personalised message hidden inside the envelopes. My husband loved them! Tue 16 Feb 2016 Perfect- better than I hoped & arrived beautifully packaged & in double quick time. Very pleased. Sat 23 Jan 2016 Always high quality products Thu 07 Jan 2016 Very helpful in pointing out that I needed to make a change to my order, prompt responses from the company and the cufflinks themselves are beautiful - will recommend this company to others. Wed 06 Jan 2016 Excellent quality. My husband (who has everything he needs so buying gifts for him is becoming increasingly difficult) loves them. Sun 03 Jan 2016 Just lovely and really quick delivery! Tue 29 Dec 2015 Amazing personalised gift, worth every penny. Definitely would buy again. Also, delivery to a country outside UK, estimated 24th December, arrived on 18th. Very pleased. Tue 29 Dec 2015 Other half was thrilled with his present,came in a lovely gift box Fri 25 Dec 2015 No comment supplied. Thu 24 Dec 2015 Great, unique and really fast delivery. Really pleased. Thu 17 Dec 2015 Great thanks Tue 15 Dec 2015 how to put the words on wasn't logical (envelope 1 line 1, then envelope 2 line 1, then envelope 1 line 2, then envelop 2 line 2) so I got it wrong......£15 to fix it felt very steep! so we've left the envelopes a little mis-matched and put it down to experience. Tue 15 Dec 2015 Loved these. Arrived timely. Box could have been a little nice. Tue 15 Dec 2015 Love love love these, bought them for my fiancée for our wedding day with the date engaged on them. He loves them too. Sat 12 Dec 2015 Excellent all round service and product Sat 12 Dec 2015 Great product, well designed. Quick delivery. Would recommend to friends. Sat 12 Dec 2015 Excellent product, fast & speedy arrival Wed 09 Dec 2015 Product is simply fantastic Thu 03 Dec 2015 No comment supplied. Fri 20 Nov 2015 Perfect gift and amazing quality. Can't believe how quickly they arrived. I hope my hubby loves them as much as I do X Fri 06 Nov 2015 Excellent service, ordered last minute and it arrived perfectly! No hassle at all! Will definitely use in the future, couldn't recommend it enough! Wed 04 Nov 2015 Great quality and beautifully presented Mon 19 Oct 2015 Amazing!!!!! Tue 13 Oct 2015 My dad was overwhelmed they were just perfect and superfast arriving in plenty of time for our wedding Sat 10 Oct 2015 Excellent really pleased Wed 30 Sep 2015 I was extremely happy with the efficiency of delivery. I received an email to confirm that the item had been dispatched. I was so happy with the cuff links and loved the gift box. Thank you! Mon 28 Sep 2015 very unusual gift, my husband loved them Fri 25 Sep 2015 Bought these for my brother. He loved them...They are so personal to him. Would highly recommend Tue 22 Sep 2015 So happy with these Wed 09 Sep 2015 Lovely item, great quality. Ribbon was a special touch. Quick delivery. Wed 12 Aug 2015 No comment supplied. 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Had ordered well in advance but delivered next day, great service. Tue 17 Mar 2015 Excellent gift for my husbands 40th birthday! Very quirky. Tue 17 Mar 2015 Cufflink s were just as they were described on website A gift that my husband loved. Thu 12 Mar 2015 Beautiful cuff-links in a lovely presentation box. A gift that is personal and a pleasure to give. Wed 11 Mar 2015 Love these, really special gift Wed 11 Mar 2015 Really pleased with these, quality is excellent, and my partner loved them, he thought they were very spevial, great communications from the seller too. Fri 06 Mar 2015 Arrived promptly and were a perfect gift Fri 06 Mar 2015 Lovely item . My partner loved them - really personal touch and the box they come in is lovely. would definitely recommend. Sat 28 Feb 2015 Beautiful... My partner adored them... And they arrived the following day! Fri 27 Feb 2015 Beautifully presented. Good quality. Fri 27 Feb 2015 No comment supplied. Thu 26 Feb 2015 Really beautifully made and a good size. Great to be able to personalise them- a great touch to make the gift more meaningful. Wed 25 Feb 2015 My cufflinks are excellent quality and arrived so quickly. Wed 25 Feb 2015 So appropriate for valentines and delivered within 2 days. Many thanks Wed 25 Feb 2015 Amazing so uniquepresent Wed 25 Feb 2015 Good value and nice quality Tue 24 Feb 2015 Just beautiful. Highly recommended for a lived one's gift where you can add your own message . Tue 24 Feb 2015 Very Exquisite! My Husband Loved it, the personalisation was an added bonus Fri 20 Feb 2015 No comment supplied. Fri 20 Feb 2015 I am delighted with my cuff links and the presentation is excellent Thu 19 Feb 2015 The design was emailed straight away, very quick delivery, brilliant quality, a great present! Thu 19 Feb 2015 fantastic quality, perfect gift Wed 18 Feb 2015 No comment supplied. Wed 18 Feb 2015 No comment supplied. Wed 18 Feb 2015 Really sweet! Wed 18 Feb 2015 I thought this product was fantastic. The quality was excellent and personalised engraving was perfect. It was a superb valentine's gift and my husband loved them. Thu 05 Feb 2015 I've always been delighted with everything I've purchased from Maria Allen Jewellery and this time was no different. I think that my husband will love them too. Sun 01 Feb 2015 Quick delivery, fantastic product, beautifully gift boxed, highly recommend. Sun 01 Feb 2015 Really pleased with these cufflinks. I bought them for my husband for his birthday from our little boy and he loved them. Sat 31 Jan 2015 No comment supplied. Sat 31 Jan 2015 Really lovely. My friend loved the cuff links. Very quirky. Thu 29 Jan 2015 Brilliant customer service, the Cufflinks were exceptional! Would definitely recommend this to people looking for a beautiful, unique gift! Wed 28 Jan 2015 These are for my husband's birthday and they are wonderful - I am sure he will love them. I like particularly like that the cufflinks can be individually personalised to reflect the occasion. Sun 25 Jan 2015 Beautiful and unusual gift! Sat 24 Jan 2015 Unique lovely presenyation Thu 22 Jan 2015 Perfect item - personalised and delivered very quickly. Thu 22 Jan 2015 Beautiful and really lovely when personalised Mon 19 Jan 2015 Fantastic quality and a great gift to give to someone for that special occasion. The recipient loved them. Mon 05 Jan 2015 Lovely items, packaged really well - excellent fast delivery! Fri 02 Jan 2015 A lovely item and very fast delivery in time for Xmas. Customer service and communication was outstanding. Fri 02 Jan 2015 Very quick delivery, my husband was very touched I had them personalised with a special message. Highly recommended. Tue 30 Dec 2014 The perfect gift. Fri 26 Dec 2014 Really pleased with the cufflinks. The idea and the execution of the idea both fantastic. Would recommend. Fri 26 Dec 2014 My daughter told me the Cufflinks reduced her daddy to tears Xmas morning. A great idea. Fri 26 Dec 2014 Excellent Mon 22 Dec 2014 No comment supplied. Sat 20 Dec 2014 Received the cuff links and I am very happy with them. They look good quality and arrive nicely in a box with a ribbon on it. Very helpful when adjusting my order and speedy. Would certainly use again. Thank you. Sat 20 Dec 2014 The cufflinks looks great. I can't wait for my husband to open them on Christmas. Tue 16 Dec 2014 FANTASTIC PRESENT Sat 13 Dec 2014 Great quality product and fantastically helpful seller, highly recommended. Thu 11 Dec 2014 They are genuinely lovely and so different to any other of the standard type of cufflinks that you might find. It's nice to know that there's a special message in there just for the wearer. Fri 05 Dec 2014 My father loved them Fri 05 Dec 2014 No comment supplied. Thu 04 Dec 2014 Well made and very impressed with speed of delivery! Wed 03 Dec 2014 Lovely personalised gift. Arrived promptly and beautifulky presented. Fri 28 Nov 2014 Absolutely beautiful, and they arrived so quickly, I would highly recommend using this seller Tue 25 Nov 2014 Exactly what I expected and more. Great quality and the perfect gift to add on for the other half. Tue 25 Nov 2014 Excellent service thank you Tue 25 Nov 2014 The cufflinks are so unusual, my brother loved them Sat 22 Nov 2014 Beautifully finished to perfection. Prompt delivery to Australia. Wed 12 Nov 2014 Gorgeous cufflinks!! He absolutely loved them!! Thanks for helping me make my friend's birthday special! Wed 05 Nov 2014 Love them... Though would have preferred them made from sterling silver Sat 01 Nov 2014 Fantastic gift and very quick delivery. Tue 28 Oct 2014 These are lovely. Have already thort about who I can give them to next. Sat 25 Oct 2014 Lovely quality beautifully done Fri 24 Oct 2014 top class Fri 24 Oct 2014 So beautiful. I can't believe the detail. Absolutely perfect. Wed 22 Oct 2014 This product is absolutely oustanding! The seller was super-friendly to deal with and incredibly helpful as I changed the personalised text twice! The cufflinks arrived promptly and in pristine condition. They have already been given as a gift and gratefully received, so would highly recommend both the seller and the personalised cufflinks! Sat 11 Oct 2014 These are wonderful, great quality and a bit bigger than they look in the photos. Perfect! Fri 10 Oct 2014 Lovely Thu 09 Oct 2014 totally amazing and by far worth the £65 I paid. I had both sides of the little letters engraved. I purchased for our 1st anniversary a modern twist on the traditional paper theme. I am feeling very smug that I have got something that he is going to love and be able to wear on a daily basis. he loves cufflinks so being able to put something personal on them like our wedding date and first dance song that not everyone can see makes them even more personal. quality is amazing and they 'click' shut perfectly and with an air of quality about them. I can't wait to give them as a present and I just know they will last a life time Thankyou! Wed 08 Oct 2014 Beautiful product delivered swiftly. Personalised for anniversary and we're well received by hubby! Wed 08 Oct 2014 High quality and same as picture shown Sat 04 Oct 2014 As described, lovely present Wed 01 Oct 2014 Cuff links loved by Birthday Boy and by Kids who gave them to him. Tue 30 Sep 2014 It was beautifully packaged the hell baby loved his wedding gift and it was very unique. The service was super duper quick and the communication was excellent. Most certainly will be back. Thu 25 Sep 2014 Really cute and subtly personal gift. Came very quickly, which given the personalised nature of the cufflinks is all the more impressive. Tue 23 Sep 2014 A unique gift that is so personal. Brilliant Tue 23 Sep 2014 Beautiful cuff links. Very quickly delivered Sat 20 Sep 2014 Excellent. So good that have now purchased 3sets Wed 17 Sep 2014 Very high quality cuff links and is a lovely personalised touch and sent quickly Thu 04 Sep 2014 No comment supplied. Mon 01 Sep 2014 Excellent quality and service. Definitely recommending them. My husband was more than happy with his anniversary gift, the 'letter' in each envelope is such a fantastic idea and really makes it a very special gift. Thank you Sat 30 Aug 2014 A lovely gift for my husband's 40th. They arrived very promptly with a nice gift box and bow. He was very chuffed, especially with the personalised little message from our daughter inside each cufflink. Wed 27 Aug 2014 great service and product Tue 26 Aug 2014 No comment supplied. Tue 26 Aug 2014 They are lovely everyone said so and had never seen ones like them Mon 25 Aug 2014 Very happy with these, arrived very quickly a lovely wedding gift Mon 25 Aug 2014 Beautiful slim line and chic cufflinks. Lovely gift, and my partner loved them. Thank you! Thu 21 Aug 2014 They were exactly like the picture and seem good quality. The engraving on the wooden letters was accurate and very attractive. Wed 20 Aug 2014 Beautiful design and quality. Will actually be ordering another pair this week Tue 19 Aug 2014 They are absolutely lovely and very much loved as a unique 40th birthday present. Tue 19 Aug 2014 These were beautifully made and were an excellent anniversary gift for my husband. I was worried that the 'envelopes' might fall open while being worn, but they click shut and are very secure. :) Fri 15 Aug 2014 Really cute and a fantastic keepsake. I love the product Thu 14 Aug 2014 Really lovely as a gift! Wed 13 Aug 2014 My cufflinks were fabulous and SUCH a good idea. My husband absolutely loves them. They add just a really nice personal touch; they were made and dispatched so quickly, far quicker than the estimated delivery I was originally told about so got them in bags of time for my anniversary. Thanks so much! Sat 09 Aug 2014 Very happy with the product. Fri 08 Aug 2014 Very good quality Fri 08 Aug 2014 A fantastic product. Great quality and design. Fri 01 Aug 2014 Loved them! The only thing I'd say,where I asked for a gift message,I'd have expected this to be presented differently and not written at the top corner of a scruffy invoice Wed 30 Jul 2014 Good. Wed 30 Jul 2014 My husband loves these - thank you Mon 28 Jul 2014 excellent quality and lovely idea. Thu 24 Jul 2014 Fantastic product, very quick delivery. Wed 23 Jul 2014 No comment supplied. Mon 21 Jul 2014 Great product! Fast delivery. Sat 19 Jul 2014 Items were exactly as described, looked even better than I expected Sat 19 Jul 2014 Lovely thank you xxx Tue 15 Jul 2014 Beautifully made with a hidden surprise Tue 15 Jul 2014 Absolutely beautiful! Thank you Sat 12 Jul 2014 Excellent Fri 11 Jul 2014 No comment supplied. Thu 10 Jul 2014 A lovely, unusual and elegant product. I've bought these as a wedding present for my fiance and love the fact that they are subtly personalised and so simple. Thu 10 Jul 2014 Gorgeous! Cant wait to give them to my groom :-) Wed 09 Jul 2014 I was over the moon with the cuff links i ordered. Looked even better when they arrived than on the screen! Wed 09 Jul 2014 Smart, great quality and arrived on time. Thank you! Wed 02 Jul 2014 A great way of giving a personalised message whilst not being on view on the product! Loved them although maybe a little expensive, great present Sat 28 Jun 2014 Amazing product, one of a kind, so happy with the quality Sat 28 Jun 2014 My husband was delighted with these (a Father's Day present from the kids). They're so sweet!! Really well made, inscription was clear and well done. Would definately recommend. Very quick delivery too Fri 27 Jun 2014 Excellent quality, just as stated. We had one very happy dad when he opened his Fathers Day cufflinks Thu 26 Jun 2014 Fantastic. My husband loved them. Very discrete for the office. Not too bling or blahs. Very good product. Better than expected. Thu 26 Jun 2014 Cuff links as described, fast delivery. Very pleased with service received and quality of product received. Thu 26 Jun 2014 Beautiful product & Delivered quickly. Thu 26 Jun 2014 Very personal gift, delivered very quickly and on time. It's a great idea for a special gift. Thank you. Wed 25 Jun 2014 Looked exactly the same as picture. Wed 25 Jun 2014 Really good customer service and very quick to respond to my query Tue 24 Jun 2014 Exceeded expectations! A great Father's Day gift Tue 24 Jun 2014 Love them wished I had the envelope engraved. Tue 24 Jun 2014 Gift from my son for fathers day. Special and unique, a gift I will cherish. Tue 24 Jun 2014 Fantastic product. Gift for hubbie for fathers day from our son. Nice and understated, but very personal. Suitable for work and in formal situations. In my view much better value for money and will get far more use than a more in your face and dare i say 'tacky' Fathers day gift. Tue 24 Jun 2014 My husband loved these as a gift and I am pleased with them too. Tue 24 Jun 2014 Lovely finish, quickly received. Tue 24 Jun 2014 I'm very pleased with this purchase, and veryone I have shown them too thinks they are fabulous. Also very quick service, Received them within 2 working days Tue 24 Jun 2014 brilliant Mon 23 Jun 2014 Such a lovely unique gift, my boyfriend was so pleased with them. Delivery was very fast, thank you. Mon 23 Jun 2014 Lovely item, was a huge hit on Father's Day! Mon 23 Jun 2014 Quality product... a lovely gift. Mon 23 Jun 2014 Very cute and great quality. Sun 22 Jun 2014 An absolutely amazing idea and so personal. Excellent! Sat 21 Jun 2014 Really lovely cufflinks just as ordered and pictured on site Fri 20 Jun 2014 Silver wedding present and my husband was delighted. Fri 20 Jun 2014 Fantastic Father's Day present! Excellent quality Wed 18 Jun 2014 A lovely gift idea! My husband thought it was a lovely idea having his children's names inside. Wed 18 Jun 2014 Again same as a I've one has a scratch on it Tue 17 Jun 2014 Terrific quality, made exactly to the details I submitted with my order and arrived speedily Tue 17 Jun 2014 Fabulous as a special gift Tue 17 Jun 2014 lovely item Mon 16 Jun 2014 Great communications on this product and the final result was fantastic. They arrived promptly and were beautifully made. Thank you! Sun 15 Jun 2014 Brilliant! Even better than I imagined! Sun 15 Jun 2014 Beautiful, a fabulous gift for the man you love. Thank you, prefect Sun 15 Jun 2014 great customer service. I needed these quickly and the seller kept in touch to let me know how my order was progressing. The cufflinks are great too. My husband loved them and they look much more expensive than they actually are. Sun 15 Jun 2014 Really different & smart Sat 14 Jun 2014 I got these as a present for my fiancé, going to give them the night before the wedding but they are soo beautiful and perfect. Very pleased! Sat 14 Jun 2014 The cufflinks look beautiful and good quality. I'm sure my partner will love them. They arrived super quick as well. Sat 14 Jun 2014 Charming unique gift. Exceptionally well made. Brilliant price. I'm thrilled Sat 14 Jun 2014 No comment supplied. Fri 13 Jun 2014 Fantastic service, very quick turn around from order to delivery. Would definitely use again. Thank you Wed 11 Jun 2014 Lovely cufflinks, will be using again. Sun 08 Jun 2014 A really special 10th Wedding Anniversary present - my husband was delighted. Sun 01 Jun 2014 Beautiful, unique present. Quality of product fantastic and service excellent. Such a wonderful idea having the messages hidden in envelopes. Sat 31 May 2014 These are absolutely lovely, I am sure my Husband to be will love these when he gets them on our wedding morning. Sat 31 May 2014 My boyfriend thought it was a lovely gift ... Being able to open the envelopes to read the messages were extra surprises for him. The box itself doesn't look extremely expensive, but is functional and looks reasonable for this price. Thu 29 May 2014 this company is amazing so so helpful, and the cufflinks are just perfect my husband adores them, keeps him busy in boring meetings and looks professional and sleek i cant praise the product or the company enough im so happy! Thu 29 May 2014 Fantastic product, unique and different Thu 29 May 2014 The cuff links were exactly as described but even better than I'd hoped for. The quality is excellent and they were delivered quickly. Thu 29 May 2014 Lovely, very special, just what I wanted as a gift. Wed 28 May 2014 I'm really sad and disappointed with the cufflinks as they were given to my husband as a gift. the envelope was not tight enough and the little wooden piece within fell out. Big disappointment, wish I could have a refund. Very unhappy. Maria Allen Boutique's response: Thank you for your feedback and we're sorry to hear that your cufflinks are damaged. We make every effort to ensure that our customers are 100% happy with their orders and we are very sorry to hear that you are unhappy with this product. We maintain a high level of quality control on our products but it sounds like unfortunately on this occasion you have received a faulty pair of cufflinks. We'd be happy to send a replacement pair - please contact us via your order enquiry and let us know how you would like to resolve this issue. Thank you for shopping with us. Tue 27 May 2014 The product was just what I had ordered and will be such a nice surprise for the recipient as it is a little bit different. Thanks for making this great personalised product available to me Sat 24 May 2014 I have bought these as an early Father's Day present from our daughter and they are beautiful. They are just perfect and subtle, the message inside adds that personal touch. I'm sure my husband will be impressed as they are so individual. Sat 24 May 2014 first class service and most perfect gift thank you very impressive all round! Thu 22 May 2014 Great service. Very good quality of product. Wed 21 May 2014 Generally speaking the personalised cufflinks (I have ordered various designs twice) are a bit larger than standard but overall an excellent personalised gift. Wed 21 May 2014 So well presented, and such a cute product. I've bought this for my boyfriends 21st birthday, and I think they are perfect! Thank you for your super quick delivery too. Wed 21 May 2014 Exactly as shown in the pic, the perfect personalised present, loved it! Mon 19 May 2014 Great quality and look really pretty with the little gift box Fri 16 May 2014 Excellent service - the cuff-links were sent very quickly. The qualify of the cufflinks is very good but not excellent. A lovely gift for my husband. Thu 15 May 2014 Excellent, really lovely cufflinks Tue 13 May 2014 I have been searching for a very special and symbolic gift for my son, and I trawled endless sites looking for something different, not the norm, but not over expensive or too 'flashy'. I love the inner wooden slates that I had personalised. The links are made to a high standard and the presentation box and ribbon were also of excellent quality. I will definitely use this company more in the future. Sun 11 May 2014 Lovely gift, good quality and arrived very quickly after ordering. Sat 10 May 2014 I absolutely loved these cufflinks, they are so cute. My boyfriend was really pleased. It's such a perfect and thoughtful gift. Sat 10 May 2014 I am delighted with the cufflinks :) Thank you so much. I cant wait to give them to my fiance to wear on our wedding day :) I would highly recommend these as a gift. Very different from what you see in the shops :) :) Fri 09 May 2014 They are lovely Fri 09 May 2014 Gorgeous cufflinks Fri 02 May 2014 So cute, unusual gift... Beautifully made. Fri 02 May 2014 My husband found the cufflinks very unique. With the presonalized envelope inside, I am sure the gift and the memory will last for him. Thu 01 May 2014 j Thu 01 May 2014 They are beautiful I have bought them for my husbands 60th birthday they will be something he has to keep. Wed 30 Apr 2014 lovely high-quality gift, to be expected from Notonthehighstreet vendors, I've never bought anything and not 100% loved it! Wed 30 Apr 2014 A perfect 30th birthday gift. Tue 29 Apr 2014 Ordered late Saturday, arrived Wednesday. Excellent service and delighted with the quality. Fri 25 Apr 2014 Gorgeous set of cufflinks I love them, can't wait to give them to him! Really really happy, many thanks. Fri 25 Apr 2014 Loved the cufflinks - great present for my Husband to be on our wedding day. Love that the message is hidden for his eyes only. Wed 23 Apr 2014 Beautiful products and amazingly fast delivery would thoroughly recommend Wed 23 Apr 2014 These are beautiful cufflinks. They are for my husband on our anniversary. Arrived carefully packaged and within 2 days. Excellent service I will shop here again. Wed 23 Apr 2014 Very pleased with product! The cufflinks are beautiful, and the wooden inserts added a unique, personalised touch. Thank you. Tue 22 Apr 2014 Fantastic customer service and the cufflinks themselves are gorgeous. Tue 22 Apr 2014 Superb and very well made - my partner loves them. Tue 22 Apr 2014 Brilliant very pleased, great service and delivery Fri 18 Apr 2014 The envelope cuff links made a perfect gift! He loved them. They were made intricately and the communication between myself and the company kept me in the loop the whole time. Thank you! :-) Thu 17 Apr 2014 Be nice if the metal was silver plated. The idea is superb but be great if the quality was better. Would pay more for it Maria Allen Boutique's response: Thanks for your feedback and we're sorry to hear that you're not totally happy with your purchase. We strive to provide items of the highest quality and have many customers that have been very happy with this product. We are sorry that you feel this has not been achieved on this occasion. The envelope cufflinks are rhodium plated which gives them a smooth and high quality finish which also does not tarnish. Please contact us via your order enquiry if you have any additional comments or if we can assist you further. Thu 17 Apr 2014 In love with the product ! just excellent and so so so beautiful :) Wed 16 Apr 2014 Excellent quality and nice presentation box. Wed 16 Apr 2014 Beautiful! Perfect gift for my significant other's 50th birthday! High quality, and perfectly engraved. Tue 15 Apr 2014 No comment supplied. Thu 10 Apr 2014 They were perfect! And arrived uber fast. Wed 09 Apr 2014 See above Sun 06 Apr 2014 No comment supplied. Sat 05 Apr 2014 Very sweet ! Husband loved them ! That little extra personal touch , lovely x Thu 03 Apr 2014 Gorgeous, can't wait to see the husband's face when I give them to him! :) Wed 02 Apr 2014 No comment supplied. Wed 02 Apr 2014 Speedy service excellent quality Wed 02 Apr 2014 No comment supplied. Fri 28 Mar 2014 Good quality, would order from them again if needed Thu 27 Mar 2014 Excellent perfect present ! Wed 26 Mar 2014 A unique,well made gift, exquisitely packaged. Destined to deight the recipriant. Thank you Tue 25 Mar 2014 Even nicer then they looked online. Mon 24 Mar 2014 Good Mon 24 Mar 2014 My husband loves them and I love the fact that I could give him something very personalised. Sat 22 Mar 2014 These are the perfect gift for my husband on our 5th wedding anniversary which is wood and the cuff links contain a personalised wooden letter. A fantastic idea. I cannot wait to see his face when he opens them. Sat 22 Mar 2014 A perfect silver anniversary present for my husband .... Silver and personal! Love them x Fri 21 Mar 2014 Absolutely exquisite cufflinks! Fri 21 Mar 2014 excellent well made gift! my husband loved them Fri 21 Mar 2014 Loveky gift for my groom on our big day! Fri 21 Mar 2014 Lovely item Fri 21 Mar 2014 No comment supplied. Fri 21 Mar 2014 My son is very pleased with them Fri 21 Mar 2014 Bought two pairs. Both were loved. The most darling little gift Fri 21 Mar 2014 I was delighted with the product and so was my partner when he received them. Thu 20 Mar 2014 The quality of these cuff links are brilliant and well worth the money for a bespoke gift Thu 20 Mar 2014 Beautiful intricate product Mon 24 Feb 2014 Excellent service, communication and product. Highly recommend to all Fri 21 Feb 2014 Cufflinks exactly as described and as in the pictures Fri 21 Feb 2014 Better than expected Thu 20 Feb 2014 These cufflinks were lovely. A great idea to be able to personalise the 'letters'. I was concerned the hinges may be flimsy or weak but they are fine. I love these and so did my husband! A great Valentine's Day gift. Thu 20 Feb 2014 Brilliant unique item Thu 20 Feb 2014 Lovely product, would definitely use this company again. :-) Wed 19 Feb 2014 My husband loved them - so did I ! ! Wed 19 Feb 2014 product was exactly as ordered. Delivery was rapid and very well done. Thankyou. Wed 19 Feb 2014 Fantastic quality, fast delivery my Husband loved them! Wed 19 Feb 2014 Beautiful cufflinks and a really original idea that my husband loved. The message inside will always be our Valentine's secret. Tue 18 Feb 2014 Very pleased with this product and I'm sure the recipient will be too! Sat 15 Feb 2014 A fantastic prezzie for my husbands valentine , he loved them so very much xxxx Sat 15 Feb 2014 Made excellent gift for hubby Sat 15 Feb 2014 Beautiful! My man was really chuffed with them, he'd never seen anything like them before. Thank you. Sat 15 Feb 2014 Was a little unsure about whether these might be a bit 'naff' but they were lovely, beautifully made, and my husband loved them. Sat 15 Feb 2014 Fantastic. So beautiful and sentimental my husband welled up. Wed 12 Feb 2014 Very stylish Tue 11 Feb 2014 Lovely personalised gift. Great quality and speedy delivery. Mon 13 Jan 2014 Love, love, love these. My husband, and everyone else, thought them fantastic as so original. Thank you. see all customer reviews hide some customer reviews read about our product rating system ratings guide trusted independent customer feedbackforum excellent bad good poor This product is dispatched to you by Maria Allen Boutique. MAINLAND UK order now and receive this item by price Free Delivery Friday 6 May FREEFREEFREEFREE Tracked Next Day 1pm Delivery Wednesday 4 May £6.95$13.38€8.94$10.65 Saturday Delivery Saturday 7 May £12.95$24.94€16.66$19.84 NON-MAINLAND UK estimated delivery price Highlands & Islands of Scotland 2-5 working daysfrom dispatch FREEFREEFREEFREE Northern Ireland 2-5 working daysfrom dispatch FREEFREEFREEFREE Other UK Islands 2-5 working daysfrom dispatch FREEFREEFREEFREE INTERNATIONAL DELIVERY estimated delivery price Western Europe 2-5 working daysfrom dispatch £11.50$22.15€14.80$17.62 Rest of Europe 5-10 working daysfrom dispatch £11.50$22.15€14.80$17.62 USA & Canada 5-10 working daysfrom dispatch £18.50$35.63€23.81$28.35 Asia & Australasia 5-10 working daysfrom dispatch £19.50$37.56€25.10$29.88 Rest of the world 5-14 working daysfrom dispatch £19.50$37.56€25.10$29.88 You have 28 days, from receipt of cancellable goods, to notify the seller if you wish to cancel your order or exchange an item. Please note: goods that are personalised, bespoke or made-to-order to your specific requirements, perishable products and personal items sold with a hygiene seal (cosmetics, underwear) in instances where the seal is broken are non-refundable, unless faulty. Read more about our returns policy.Should you choose to return or exchange your order you will need to deliver the item(s) to the UK, where this seller is based. Maria Allen Boutique's return policy Please see notonthehighstreet.com's returns policy.


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- 04:25, June 21, 2014 Drobbins (Talk | contribs) deleted page Funtoo Linux:Community portal (content was: "In addition to this wiki, a number of valuable support resources are available: * The [http://groups.google.com/group/funtoo-dev funtoo-dev mailing list], ho..." (and the only contributor was "Golodhrim"))


text: Ranor was a Cardassian gul, commander of the Galor-class warship Kraxon. In 2371, Ranor's cruiser was the closest warship in pursuit of the USS Defiant after it was stolen by the Maquis. After Maquis leader Thomas Riker agreed to surrender, Ranor was ordered to protect the Defiant against two Keldon-class warships fielded by the Obsidian Order. (DS9: "Defiant")


text: The Curse of the Moguls The Great Transition 07 December 09 by Peter Kirwan Flickr CC: jeffrey95112 Picture: The ultimate media mogul - Jeffrey KatzenbergEarlier this week, Eric Hommels offered us a glimpse of the challenges that confront venture capitalists across Europe.At a conference in London, Hommels asked: "Who is going to buy all the shit in our existing portfolios?"No doubt Hommels meant to say "stuff" rather than "shit". All the same, his question is starting to look like an urgent one.The flow of cash from venture capital funds into European start-ups might be reviving. But at the other end of the pipeline, traditional media companies have largely stopped buying tech-flavoured start-ups. "They are in such a bad state this is not possible," said Hummels.Perhaps it's just a matter of time. But there are some who would prefer if Big Media didn't return to its old M&A-driven ways. Jonathan Knee, an investment banker and part-time professor at New York's Columbia University, is among them.Last week, Knee was in London to talk about The Curse Of The Moguls. Co-written with two colleagues, The Curse amounts to a scathing indictment of the way in which the world's largest media corporations have conducted themselves for a generation or more.The book is densely-written and resolutely American, but it contains lessons for Europe, too. One piece of evidence stands out among many: shareholder returns generated by large quoted US media companies like Time-Warner and Viacom have consistently fallen short of the rest of Wall Street for the past 15 years.Remarkably enough, the calculation holds good for any of the ten-year periods that have ended since 1995. The only exception is the decade-long stretch that ended in December 2000, when the dot.com boom flattered to deceive investors.Why has Big Media failed investors on such an epic scale? The answer, according to Knee, lies with media moguls who have consistently refused to accept that the media business is a game best played by bean-counters.Sitting on a stool in a bar at Claridges, where he is staying, Knee is adamant. "Content isn't king," he insists. "The barriers to entry have always been low. What's driving the big picture is that they continue to fall."One after another, Knee ticks off the comparative advantages that result in market-beating performance: economies of scale, the ability to hold customers captive, low cost of production and regulatory protection.Most media businesses, Knee argues, have never enjoyed any of these advantages. The few that did – like local newspapers, protected by the high fixed costs of production and distribution -- have been undone by the web.According to Knee, there's only one way to run a business when the barriers to market entry are low. It's the way of the suit, the pencil pusher, the number cruncher, the pinhead and the apparatchik.Reciting these traditional insults directed at bean-counters, the authors of The Curse point to an odd paradox: it's "hard to identify [another] industry in which the ability to operate efficiently is treated with such disdain".Examples abound. In 1991, Variety, the movie industry bible, published extracts from a fiercely-worded 28-page memo written by Jeffrey Katzenberg, the chairman of Disney's studios. Katzenberg's memo lambasted the "tidal wave of runaway costs and mindless competition" afflicting Hollywood.Naturally, all hell broke loose. Memorably, the actor Alec Baldwin described the Katzenberg as "the eighth dwarf" and gave him a new name: Greedy. Others called the memo "self-serving" and "ridiculous". Yet within a year, most of Hollywood was following Katzenberg's example.Knee his co-authors would like to see more Katzenbergs running Big Media. More like Michael Bloomberg and Tom Glocer of Reuters, too. Despite his tendency to bid high for acquisitions, praise is also heaped upon Rupert Murdoch. News Corporation, we're told, remains the "most consistent performer" among the world's largest media conglomerates.From the depths of history, the authors also rehabilitate Lew Wasserman, who spent three decades building MCA/Universal into an entertainment powerhouse, delivering remarkable returns for his shareholders along the way.The producer of Jaws achieved this by turning his slice of Hollywood into a factory, where costs were managed aggressively and production facilities worked at 100% capacity.The Curse Of The Mogul argues that bosses like these are the exception to the rule. Instead of ekeing out superior returns from their capital, too many moguls get seduced by the notion of becoming warrior kings who deploy visionary insights to provide for their tribe.Convincing moguls of this kind to focus on operational efficiency, the authors suggest, is rather like "selling abstinence-only sex education in high school". Fairly quickly, most media moguls quickly acquire a taste for "excitement, glamour, drama and publicity releases". Typically, they also acquire a taste for mergers and acquisitions. Specifically, The Curse Of The Mogul records that Time Warner, Sony, News Corporation, Viacom, CBS, NBC Universal and Disney have completed more than 100 digital acquisitions since the end of the dot.com boom in 2000.In most cases, competitive bidding pushed the cost of these deals beyond reasonable limits. Just as importantly, The Curse argues that feverish deal-making has become "a troubling and prevalent distraction" for much of Big Media."The moguls tend to get bored with their businesses at precisely the point when they need to pay attention," says Knee. "But buying something sexy to which you bring nothing is always a bad idea. You will overpay. Your existing business will end up under-managed as you get distracted."The Curse Of The Mogul cites "effective unanimity" among the world's economists: mergers and acquisitions rarely, if ever, create value. Profit margins frequently decline even as revenues grow. As Knee and his co-authors put it, deal-making destroys value "with remarkable consistency".Unfortunately, revenue-driven M&A activity now sustains large swathes of the industry. According to analysis from McKinsey, mergers and acquisitions are now responsible for over 50% of all revenue growth in the quoted US media sector – way beyond the norm in less glamorous industries such as retail, telecoms or financial services.It's a classic double-bind. Deal-making may be addictive, but like most drugs, it's also toxic. Most of all, the authors of The Curse would like to see Big Media break this particular self-destructive cycle.This, in turn, brings us back to dilemma facing Eric Hommels. When Techcrunch Europe reported Hommels' comments this week, a lively debate between readers followed.Fred Destin, a London-based VC, linked the dearth of exits with the suggestion that European media brands are being "wiped out" by "digital disruption".On the face of it, this seems like a sensible connection to make. For a decade or more, we've been conditioned to believe that Big Media needs to acquire ideas, code and revenue from outsiders in order to cope with a future that looks increasingly threatening.But what if the causal chain works the other way around? What if deal-making actually lies close to the root of Big Media's problems?If European media companies have already stopped spending money on acquisitions, the authors of The Curse Of The Mogul would like them to take the next step, and start returning that unused cash to investors.The authors of The Curse describe this as "dying with dignity". In person, Knee adds: "There's no shame in this. It's going to be a reality for some parts of the sector."Under these circumstances, the traditional pipeline that connects tech entrepreneurs and venture capitalists with media moguls may carry far fewer deals to their destination than previously. What might replace it? One vision of the future pivots on Telegraph Media Group's recent decision to give editor-in-chief Will Lewis £10m and a staff of 50 "engineers, entrepreneurs, user experience specialists and product people" dedicated to developing new digital ventures.It's a model we've seen before, not least during the craze for so-called intrapreneurial venturing during the original dot.com boom.No doubt Lew Wasserstein would approve. Yet Big Media's taste for deals runs deep. Doubtless the merging and acquiring will start all over again – just as soon as cashflow and debt burdens permit. In a world where barriers to entry continue to tumble, it remains to be seen for how much longer shareholders will agree to foot the bill. Edited by Michael Parsons Latest on wired.co.uk