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The Zeon is looking for a few good bullet-sponges.
The Gundam series has exploded in America over the past few years. Although it's
been around since the '70s, it took off in the US with the introduction of Gundam
Wing. Though it's never really captured the mainstream, it certainly has a very
dedicated hardcore following.
tells the ongoing story of two warring factions: The Federation, who occupy
Earth, and the Zeon, who left Earth due to overpopulation and now want to come
back. One of the most captivating aspects of Gundam is that no side is the clear-cut
hero and no side is the villain. Often, you find yourself cheering for either
of the two.
Still, you always wind up playing as the Federation. Now for the first time
you get to take on the role of the Zeon in Mobile Suit Gundam: Zeonic Front,
the second installment of Gundam on the PS2. The first, Journey
to Jaburo, was an action title that failed to hold up. Zeonic Front,
however, fuses action and with real-time strategy and in many ways succeeds
where its predecessor had failed.
Zeonic Front has nothing to do with Gundam Wing, which may come as a
disappointment to fans of that particular series. Wing is based on a sort of
an alternate reality – the story line is a variation of the traditional Gundam
and the Mechs are much more elaborate. Zeonic Front follows the normal
timeline of Gundam, so you won't see any Deathscythes, Sandrocks, or Heavy Arms
– just good old fashion Gundams and Zakus.
You play as the Zeon running various sorties on Earth. You begin each level by planning your route through the stage, or you can use the default one provided. This can literally take hours. When laying the path, you must determine which way to go, which command to execute once a point is reached,
and which direction the team should be facing once they arrive there. The routes are important because you usually have more than one team, and as you switch to one the computer takes over and follows the other.
What troubles me is the fact that while laying a particular path, there is
no way to tell where the enemy is going to be. So for all you know your route
can bring you right in front of a tank division ready to put some lead in your
diet. Some kind of enemy indicator would have helped, but instead you must go
through the level, get shot at, die, then and go back and plan another route.
The trial and error gets tiring and takes away a bit from what is a very original
take on Gundam gaming.
After routes have been plotted out, the game shifts into a third-person action
game. Thankfully, Zeonic Front's control is quite forgiving and follows
the scheme of first-person shooters. The left analog stick controls movement,
right looks around, and the shoulder buttons are used to fire. It's pretty intuitive.
During a mission, you are often in control of two and sometimes three different
groups. The AI becomes very important; there's nothing worse than watching your
computer controlled forces run around in circles, getting stuck behind things,
just standing there, or following you around despite the orders you issued.
But this isn't the case, as the game pulls through with solid AI.
see your comrades engage the enemy with no hesitation, boost over obstacles
and stay in a group in order to focus their attacks on a single target. The
AI offers great support in both the teams you are commanding as well as the
computer controlled ones.
Most of this game will have to be learned while playing because the instruction
book is awful. It does a wonderful job of describing the Zaku's capabilities,
but doesn't spend enough time on how to execute these moves. Though after each
mission training levels are unlocked (which provide a great deal of help), the
learning curve can be tough.
Zeonic Front is impressive graphically. The environments and the Mobile
Suits themselves are very smooth – the shading and shadow effects are particularly
well done. There's some noticeable pop-up, but the game generally looks good.
In addition to all of the classic Gundam sounds, the overall effects are done
very well. There is great deal of ambient sound, which adds some life to this
already intricate game. It pains me to hear good Anime butchered by horrible
English voice-overs. Luckily, Zeonic Front allows you to play with Japanese
voices and English subtitles. However, the English voice acting is exceptionally
good in this case and is actually worth a listen.
Zeonic Front is very complex and very difficult both in gameplay and
storyline. It's definitely a game you shouldn't play at four in the morning
after a half case of Corona. But if you're up to a good challenge, you might
want to give it a try. Even those who don't follow the Gundam universe should
still find some pleasure here.


text:
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The bus from Marseille to Lyon is an excellent means of transport. First of all, its price is generally unbeatable. On average, the bus trip will take 1h 29min on the 277 km between Marseille and Lyon. On Kombo, you can compare bus with train and carpooling from Blablacar. This way you will be guaranteed the best price with a duration that suits you. Know that the majority of the buses allow you to benefit from a free WiFi Internet connection. You will find this information in the results of search.
To pay for your bus ticket to Lyon cheaper, we recommend booking directly on Kombo. First of all, here, you are guaranteed to have a seat because many buses can attain their fullest capacity on some roads. Also, you can find the cheapest bus tickets and travel at a lower fare, as we compare ticket prices from several bus and coach operating companies. Finally, you can sometimes take advantage of coupon codes available, either for National Express, Blablabus (new name of Ouibus), Flixbus, Eurolines or Alsa. So our advice to you is to book earlier, it's always cheaper!
Once you have your bus ticket, no need to print it. However, remember to fully charge your phone, as you will need to show the ticket on the screen of your smartphone.
Depending on the different bus companies available, the ways of cancelling tickets and related conditions may vary. Some allow you to do so directly on their website. For others, it is requested to contact them by email or by phone. Today, Kombo is not authorized to cancel or exchange bus tickets sold on its site. For BlaBlaBus and Flixbus, you will have to do it directly on their site. However, we won't let you down, and we have prepared a guide to know how to cancel your bus tickets easily.
Rue Jacques Bory
You will arrive at these bus stations To Lyon:
Unnamed Road
Do you want to discover France and Europe from Marseille ? From Marseille, the best alternative is to travel is the bus. Here you can see our top 20 cheapest destinations by bus from Marseille. Whether you want to go to Marseille or Lyon think about comparing the different prices before buying the tickets.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Suns look to end losing streak, satisfy fans
The Phoenix Suns are so confident in what team president Jason Rowley calls their "exciting brand of basketball" that the team is offering fans their money back - regardless of the game's outcome - if they're not completely satisfied with the experience at Thursday night's matchup against the Dallas Mavericks.
The way the Suns are playing, that could end up being quite a costly promotion.
Back from its longest trip of the season, Phoenix will try to avoid its first five-game losing streak in nearly 11 months as it begins a stretch of six of seven at home.
Whether it's to generate some excitement in the desert for the new-look Suns, fill the US Airways Center for a nationally televised game, or both, the team's "Satisfaction Guaranteed Night" comes at a time when Phoenix (7-12) isn't satisfied at all with its play.
The team ended a 1-5 trip with Tuesday's 108-98 overtime loss to Memphis, a game the Suns led by as many as 16 in the second quarter.
"We played good for three quarters," said center Marcin Gortat, who led Phoenix with 18.5 points and 12.3 rebounds per game as it dropped three of four to Dallas last season. "Quite honestly, something just suddenly turned off. Someone turned off the switch, and we just stopped playing. That's it."
The Suns can't afford any more defensive letdowns, as they're allowing 108.0 points per game during their skid and a league-worst 102.9 for the season.
Phoenix last lost five in a row Jan. 10-17.
"They're gonna be desperate for a win," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle told the team's official website.
Dallas (8-10) is also looking to get back into the win column after getting routed 112-90 by the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday to kick off its three-game trip.
The Mavs have dropped four of five, with three of those losses coming by at least 22 points.
"Turnovers basically triggered all the problems tonight," Carlisle told the league's official website after his team's season high-tying 22 turnovers led to 26 Clippers points.
Trying to avoid a fourth consecutive road loss - and falling three games below .500 for the first time since the start of 2011-12 - Dallas will still be without Dirk Nowitzki.
The former MVP is traveling with the Mavs, but he said during Wednesday's game his debut following offseason knee surgery is still "a few weeks out."
Dallas is hoping the recent addition of point guard Derek Fisher will add some veteran leadership and scoring punch until Nowitzki returns. Fisher hit three 3-pointers and scored 15 points Wednesday after going 1 for 8 with two points in his season debut Saturday against Detroit.
"I'm just looking forward to be as helpful as possible with this team," Fisher said. "There's a lot of young guys, but we do have some potential."
Suns point guard Goran Dragic, the team leader with 15.5 points and 6.6 assists per game, could play a key role in turning Phoenix's season in the right direction. He averaged 20.3 points and 8.3 assists in three games versus Dallas last season while with Houston.
Phoenix forward Luis Scola totaled 59 points and 20 rebounds in those contests for the Rockets.
The Suns avoided the season sweep and ended an eight-game skid in this series with a 96-94 victory in Dallas' last visit on March 8.
The Mavericks had won their previous three in Phoenix.


text:
So basically what you do is train the horse to respond to the pressure of the reins on the neck. The reigns are tied in a knot so it kinda forms a loop. To move the horse right, you move the reins to the right so that the left rein falls against his neck. When the horse feels the rein on the left side of his neck, he is trained to move away from it, hence he goes in the direction you want. And there you go, one handed control with very little pressure on the mouth being invovled.
And now you know.
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30 June, 2010 | (01 hr)
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People spend more time on social networking sites and other Web 2.0 media than they do on any other type of website. Companies that want to increase productivity as well as manage their brands need to become part of the "social web." Companies will become more efficient if they become Enterprise 2.0 organizations (i.e., companies that use Web 2.0 technology to meet business goals). Blogs, microblogs, and social networking platforms can help employees gather information faster and increase productivity. Enterprise 2.0 organizations rely on the collective wisdom of a network that allows everyone, regardless of their position, to contribute.
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Pete Blackshaw is a recognized expert in interactive marketing, word of mouth, and consumer understanding. He brings a broad range of experience to his role as Executive Vice President of Strategic Services for NM Incite, including public policy, interactive marketing, and brand management. In hi...Full Bio
Bill White
Bill White is senior vice president of corporate communications and corporate responsibility for Sprint Nextel. In this role, he oversees all corporate communications and corporate responsibility initiatives, including executive and internal communications, external relations, reputation-building...Full Bio
Meg Gottemoeller
Meg Gottemoeller is a Senior Fellow, Human Capital at The Conference Board. In this role, Meg supports the Human Capital Practice which includes The Conference Board Human Capital Exchange™, research, conferences, webcasts and programs in a broad spectrum of h...Full Bio


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(Click on image to see larger version.)
Steven Robinson posted this picture, suggesting the second hand needed the label I have added.
Seems very suitable for Great Lent to keep this in mind and live and pray accordingly.
You can buy the watch, if you care to, here.
Still trying to make satire redundant
19 hours ago


text:
Think about it! Your brain does it all
DRAWING BY DEBORAH DERR McCLINTOCK
Q. It has been electrically probed, electroshocked, gouged out with an icepick, fed alcohol and a pharmacopeia of other drugs for fun and effect, honored with a decade dedicated to it, likened to the multi-leveled, multifaceted workings of a state-of-the-future art computer, lectured on, extracted, dissected, pickled in alcohol, weighed and weighed again. It encompasses the most complex "gadgetry" known to exist anywhere in the universe yet is ignored by most of us most of the time. What is this most marvelous something that you are right now using to such a good end? –J. Jane
A. Right, brainy you got this one easy, the human brain being hard to fool or foil for very long. Luckily the prefrontal icepick lobotomies are now just history, though done until quite recently, even by an enterprising guy named Walter Freeman who drove around in a "lobotomobile" and performed the cortex-damaging operation on the cheap and on the fly and without surgical license. It's a shame what the precious brain has led a few people to do with theirs!
Q. How many whisperers whispering all at once would it take to equal the sound of one jet plane? –A. Librarian
A. A while ago a sound-meter was placed at courtside during a Knicks vs. Bulls basketball game, and registered a rollicking 113 decibels with Michael Jordan's introduction. A reporter characterized the crowd noise this way: "A whisper is 20 decibels, a jet plane at 120 decibels is about 6 times louder than that."
But decibels don't add up that way. They go by multiples of 10 instead: Ten 20-decibel whisperers equal 30 decibels, 100 whisperers equal 40 decibels, 1,000 whisperers equal 50 decibels, etc. Now, extending the string of zeros, you can see it would take 10 billion (10,000,000,000) whisperers, a whole world's worth and more somehow jammed together in one arena, to rival the noise of that jet plane!
Q. In the dating system where 4/4 is April 4, 6/6 is June 6, and so on, what is the likelihood that for any given year 4/4, 6/6, 8/8, 10/10 and 12/12 all fall on the same day of the week? –A. Lilius
A. A common knee-jerk response to this one is "about 1 in 5," due to there being five seemingly disconnected dates, says Alfred Posamentier in Math Charmers. But wrong! The probability is actually 1– a certainty. A closer look will reveal that the above dates are all exactly 9 weeks apart, putting them all on Monday for '05, Tuesday for '06, etc.
Q. Are "Blue Mondays" aptly named? –V. Cabas
A. It seems so. People not only report being least happy and highest in anxiety on these back-to-work days but also Mondays have the highest rates for suicide and cardiac arrest, says human development professor Joel Hektner of North Dakota State University. Other weekdays tend to be a little better until really picking up on Fridays as anticipation builds toward summit Saturdays– tops in overall happiness, activation and excitement– and Sundays– tops in relaxation and contentment! Then the Monday blues return.
Interestingly, Sunday mornings can be the lowest time for people who live by themselves and do not attend church, because with no routine to attend to, they are unable to decide what to do, says psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Generally, by around noon some small decision has been made–"I'll visit the kids" or "I'll watch the baseball game"–and a sense of purpose returns.
Send Strange questions to brothers Bill and Rich at firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
'all key are easy to feel and press without looking, with deep and clicky feedback to them.'
'Noise cancellation worked well in my tests, as the Z Ultra blocked out a good amount of loud street noise, but I did notice a persistent hiss. '
'It's almost impossible to reach anything in the top half of the display or on the opposite side to your hand.'
'While the overall footprint of the Z Ultra is large the sheer thinness of the phone is very impressive. '
'decent overall spec'
'The HTC Desire is one of the best looking smartphones available right now.'
'It looks and feels like a great little phone, but it's impossible to view it in isolation and on the current market there are choices which present better value for money at (and in fact below) this price point. '
'The Desire 500 tackles the essentials well, doesn't cost the Earth and has a more interesting design than most budget smart phones. '
'Nice aluminum design.'
'Fingerprint scanner's location makes it difficult not to swipe the camera lens.'
'excellent display and stellar battery life'
'As with the regular HTC One, image quality is incredibly sharp, while brightness, colour and contrast are all excellent.'
Powerful processor, and a brilliant screen
Huge long-lasting 3200mAh battery
Powerful performance, good low-light camera, brilliant screen
Swift processor, fat battery offset by cheap plastic
Svelte metallic design, Pentaband radio
Thinnest smartphone in the world
Stylish, powerful enough for most uses
The Ascend P6's physical design is impressive but it has too many other issues to recommend
'The HTC Desire 601 is a phone that gets close to the sort of specs you'd get in a top-end One-series phone, but at a slightly lower price.'
'The viewing angles of this IPS LCD screen are also quite decent.'
'capable dual-core processor'
Want BoomSound and Zoes but without the expense?
Beautiful 720p display, Slim and light
Decent Android smartphone has above average camera
Decent style, solid battery life
Slim design, Bold screen, Highly customisable interface
Support 1080p video recording and do a great job in low-light
ReviewGist helps you find the best products to buy by making sense of online reviews.
We are currently aggregating 376,500 reviews
covering over 29,474 products.
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text:
The two-week closure of south City Market for remodeling has created something of a bottleneck at other Durango grocery stores.
Employees and shoppers at Albertsons and north City Market both reported an increase in customer volume since construction began.
Natural Grocers, a health food store across Camino del Rio from south City Market, also has seen more customers despite normally serving a different clientele than larger, conventional supermarkets.
At first, people were passing us by, but then they gave up and started coming here (for the convenient location), Natural Grocers employee Laura Caughey said. Hopefully, some will keep coming back.
Albertsons and north City Market have ordered larger shipments of food to meet demand. Shelves at both stores appeared well-stocked Thursday.
Customer satisfaction was relatively high at noon Thursday, but shoppers did report several inconveniences, including long checkout lines and a congested parking lot at north City Market.
Dee Dee DeHaro lives on East Second Avenue, which runs directly to the east of north City Market. She said that with the parking lot full to capacity, overflow shoppers were parking on the street in front of her home. And when she went to the market, she was overwhelmed by the number of shoppers.
I left yesterday because it was too crazy, she said.
Fellow shopper LaVonne Stevens concurred that parking was a problem.
Its tough to find a spot, she said.
Employees at north City Market said customer traffic has been especially high during evening and weekend hours.
Were doing the best we can to keep people happy. I havent seen many outraged customers so far, said employee Clarence Aveyta.
Marcie Morgan and Tom Molinelli, browsing the aisles with a full cart in tow, had little to complain about.
For this time of year, and with their other store closed, theyre doing a good job. Im a happy customer, Molinelli said.
Several south City Market employees have been transferred to the north location temporarily to help with stocking, and two mobile self-checkout kiosks are available for use during peak hours.
Bakers at north City Market were working full speed to satisfy customer cravings for sweets.
More doughnuts, more cake orders, more bread, more everything, said bakery manager Michaela Padilla.
While the bakery didnt receive any reinforcements, Padilla maintained her staff were up to the task.
Were too good. We dont need extra help, she said, laughing.
South City Market is scheduled to reopen its doors at 6 p.m. June 17.
The floor plan is being redesigned to resemble newer stores in the City Market/King Soopers chain, with produce moved closer to the entrance. Until then, the pharmacy will continue to operate and fill prescriptions out of a door on the stores north side.


text:
Joined: Jul 19, 2009
A geologist turned web programmer turned writer and graphic artist, Nancy Brauer has yet to decide what she wants to be when she grows up. She's been writing, drawing, and cracking open rocks for as long as she can remember. Nancy divides her time between freelance web and graphic design, writing assorted web serials, and designing cover art at Hello Cover! (http://hellocover.com). Her latest works are the sci-fi/action serial Strandline (http://strandlineseries.com), the sci-fi/romance novel Strange Little Band (http://strangelittleband.com), a short story in the speculative fiction anthology Other Sides (http://www.ergofiction.com/ebooks/), and the paranormal thriller Tori's Row (http://torisrow.com).
Nancy lives in southwestern Virginia with her partner, a dog who's allergic to nearly everything, and two allergy-free cats. Her latest hijinks are on display at http://www.nancybrauer.com .
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text:
Sydney, as Dorothy, Decorating Gingerbread House
Last night, my phone rang and a small voice said, "Dorofy?"
I hastily changed my voice into a higher register and said, "Yes, this is Dorothy from Kansas. Who are you?"
"How old are you, Sydney?"
"I'm three! And I am wearing my Dorofy dress, just like yours. I have all the costumes, and Mommy braided my hair and it has YOUR blue ribbons in it!"
"Sydney, Sydney...oh, I remember you! We had lunch together a couple of weeks ago, and we had our picture taken together!"
"Yeah, that's me! And I can sing all your songs. 'SomeWHERE, over the rainbow...'"
And so the conversation went, for 5 minutes or so. Such fun!
Here's Dorofy, decorating her gingerbread house.
To see another gingerbread project, this time a gingerbread model of an Orthodox Church, check out Harry's blog. Awesome!


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text:
Poor Elijah's Almanack: Cutting budgets at the cost of educating students
Multiple personalities are common in the education world. Experts, for example, demand that schools produce students with well-developed social skills while they simultaneously prescribe that those same schools increasingly park those same students in front of computer screens.
You'll also hear a lot today about "child-centered" classrooms where students design their own educations according to their own interests. Proponents aren't troubled by their theory's decades-long failure to produce students who know much. They're similarly unperturbed by the contradiction between letting eight-year-olds or eighteen-year-olds decide what they should learn and the evermore rigorous "common core" standards all students are expected to meet.
They likewise see no inconsistency between expecting teachers to cater to each student's individual needs and interests and consolidating small school districts into supervisory conglomerates that mandate uniformity in methods and materials for all its teachers in the name of "aligned curriculum" and "best practice." I'm not against essential requirements when it comes to the necessary skills and knowledge all students should be taught, and I'm not in favor of bad teaching. Unfortunately, the experts who get to determine these things are commonly not the best judges of what's necessary or best.
Fans of consolidation typically contend that we need to take education decisions away from amateur local boards and school-level administrators and place them in the hands of state and national experts. This assertion ignores the fact that most of the bad ideas that have plagued American public education since 1970 sprang from the fertile imaginations of state and national experts.
Consolidation boosters also claim their plans will save money. For example, analysts eager to reduce administrative costs often recommend eliminating superintendent positions, especially in rural areas, and combining otherwise unrelated small districts under the control of uber-superintendents. This seemingly pragmatic proposition, however, takes schools in exactly the wrong direction. For starters, the first thing the superintendents of larger, consolidated districts typically do is hire assistant superintendents and curriculum coordinators. So much for saving money that way.
Even more to the point, in larger towns and cities with many schools, it's reasonable to appoint a superintendent to coordinate efforts from building to building and faculty to faculty. But in a small town with one school or two, do we really need someone extra looking over the principal's shoulder? Probably not.
The further from the classroom you move administrative control, the less relevant, appropriate, and constructive that administration becomes. That's why in small districts, school principals should assume, or reassume, the duties and powers of superintendents.
On the other hand, as we eliminate supervisory unions to foster that local control, we need to ensure that we don't further concentrate power at the state level as local districts find themselves overwhelmed by state and federal regulations. Before we discuss reducing administrative costs, we need to reduce administrative chores. It makes no sense to expect your local principal and school secretary to take on the superintendent's duties in their spare time. Ironically, as experts decry administratively top-heavy budgets, they continue to add to the regulatory procedures and paperwork that keep central office administrators in business.
Proposed "service collaboratives" offer another promised avenue of efficiency and savings. These private contractors would replace school support personnel - cooks, custodians, nurses, and bus drivers.
There's nothing wrong with searching for ways to make schools run more efficiently. But how efficient will it be when your district sells off its buses, and a few years from now your new busing contractor hands you a hefty price increase? How efficient will an absentee maintenance crew seem when a water line freezes? How about an absentee nurse when a kid gets hurt on the playground?
And what if the contractor's costs are lower simply because he reduces wages when he rehires our cooks and bus drivers? Many town schools are cemented together by the dedication of longtime employees. Rewarding them for years of service by cutting their weekly hours from twenty-eight to twenty-seven so you can take away their benefits is shameful.
Eliminating teachers is the third leg of many cost-cutting proposals. As in any profession, some teachers, including some at the top of salary scale, would be better off doing something else for a living. But let's not confuse a reasoned evaluation of school faculties with purging talented teachers simply because they're expensive. Let's also not pretend that laying off teachers and increasing class sizes sounds like the world's smartest move if we're looking to improve education.
Money is tight. I know because I pay taxes, too. And my check isn't any easier to write just because some fraction of it goes to anonymous fellow teachers in the town where I live. Yes, let's examine what we spend and what we get in return. Let's reconsider the tasks we've set before our schools. Let's examine all the grant-funded programs that supposedly don't cost anything, unless you forget to count the time and tax dollars that could be going somewhere else. Let's liberate our schools from the escalating nonacademic demands that cripple them.
There are ways our schools can save money. But let's make sure the ways we choose don't end up costing us more.
Peter Berger teaches English in Weathersfield, Vermont. Poor Elijah would be pleased to answer letters addressed to him in care of the editor.


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See tutorial here on how to apply!!
Our new rub on transfers are so easy to apply and add so much to your furniture! No need to worry about printing images and using a messy transfer gel to get these amazing prints on your projects – basically you just peel off the paper backing and rub on to your furniture!
- Full instructions come on the box.
- Can be used on anything from furniture to walls!
- Easy to cut up and use all of the image or just parts of it. Be sure to save your scraps for other projects though!
- Adheres best to a matte surface that is free of oils and dirt.
- To protect the transfer, apply a sealer such as wax after the image has been applied (any high quality sealer can be used).
This listing is for the Market Sign – sheet size is 32.125″ x 12″ X2 – this products comes in 2 sheets, actual printed part of transfer is approx 60″ x 11.5″


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they won't show up untill the list updates itself, you can manually update it which is what I do.
when I get a mail that people signed up to my site how come they are not able to be seen in the top list yet :?:
they won't show up untill the list updates itself, you can manually update it which is what I do.
Or, you have minimum incoming hits set to something other than 0. If it is set to 1, they won't show until they send 1 visitor.
yes it's on 1 I'll put in on 0 :P, when it's finished I'll put it in the show off section :lol:Originally Posted by DaveS
I have 2 people who have added there sites but, they are not showing up on my list!!! What did I do??? Help please!! Tyia
List URL: http://giftsites.gotop100.com/
Did you read this thread before asking your question? The answer is right there.... The answer is also in the faq.....
yes, and thank you for helping dave :twisted:
Hi Jamie, my comment was directed to tracy0418 who asked the exact same question you did after I already answered yours. Sorry if you thought that was for you.Originally Posted by Jamie T
ehehe I know I sayed yes on what you said :lol:
good to be back


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I don't care how delicious this cake is on the inside, I'd never cut into it. I'd be too worried about marring its AR marker frosting, and the wonderful augmented reality memes contained therein. Final guesses?
If you said "Sad Keanu Riding a Unicorn In Front of Two Double Rainbows With Double Dolphins Attending," congratulations! Also, you should probably sober up already, it's not even three o'clock.
How did creator-baker Justin Blinder manufacture such a vision? He iced a simple BCH marker on top of the cake, and programmed it using openFrameworks and ofxARToolkitPlus. He was also kind enough to take some action footage:
Well done, Justin Blinder. And my birthday's not for a few months, which gives you plenty of time to concoct a checkerboard cake that explains exactly how f***ing magnets work. [Justin Blinder via Geekologie]


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I almost let Klaire wear something really simple. I never thought of her dress until I saw this dress online:
Ain't this a beauty? I thought of having it in shades of green since Green (the character) is the only girl among the M&M's. And I knew Klaire will look like a princess :) I knew it was a long shot to even ask a quote from the sikat kids' designer, she quoted me P3500, LOL! Of course that's way out of budget considering that K probably won't wear the dress again. Tita Eddie is also out of the question even if someone offered to pay for it (the only way to go is for Tita Eddie to do it for free LOL). So I asked my friends and luckily, Des' sister's officemate make dresses on weekends. I was introduced to Ms. Jane Ogena. I took the plunge and trusted Ate Aia's recommendation & my instincts. Not to mention, the fee was so affordable.
We met before New Year at Promenade and she even offered to deliver the dress a week later. Of course I declined since babies tend to grow faster, I was afraid the dress won't fit anymore in time for the party. This is what I liked about Ms. Jane – I was intent on lying about when we need the dress but lying is not my best asset I just had to tell the truth and made Ms. Jane promise not to disappoint me about deadlines.
After one fitting, the dress was ready one week before the party. I was just hoping there was a proper lining (or maybe my standards are too high after having worn Tita Eddie gowns for the past few years) and the dress did not smell bad. But I figured I only paid this much so I should have expected to have the dress dry-cleaned myself. I'm just thankful it was delivered (we actually picked it up in Timog where Ms. Jane's office is located) early so there was time to get rid of the smell. Imagine if she delivered late, then the dress won't even be ready for the party!
Here's the dress:
And I paired it with this pair of shoes from Suki Kids:
I was not too keen about the hue of the bottom layer but it worked fine anyway.
Will definitely contact Ms. Jane again for future needs :)
Rating: 5 out of 5


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The perfect place for doing business in the Intermountain West, Clearfield City is the home to some of Davis County's largest employers, including Hill Air Force Base, Clearfield Job Corps, Lifetime Products, Futura Industries Corp, Utility Trailer Manufacturing Co., Worthington Foods, Inc., ATK Space Systems, Inc. and Smith Sport Optics, Inc.
From our annual Storytelling Festival in January, our biggest city event for July 4, to our ever popular Santa's Workshop in December, there is no shortage of fun activities planned for our community throughout the year! Whether you're young, or young at heart, Clearfield City has something for almost everyone!
(Please note that the following list of city events is subject to change. Check the website calendar for exact dates).
October - Halloween Boo-nanza - Clearfield Aquatic & Fitness Center
November - Clearfield Community Theater production - Clearfield Community Arts Center
December - Holiday Yard Decorating Contest - throughout city; Santa's Workshop - Clearfield Aquatic & Fitness Center; Clearfield Community Band & Clearfield Community Choir & Children's Choir holiday concerts
January - Clearfield City Annual Storytelling Festival - Clearfield Community Arts Center
February - Sweat with Your Sweetheart Mini-Triathlon; Clearfield City 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament - Clearfield Aquatic Center
March/April - Easter Egg Hunt - Fisher Park; Easter Egg Dive - Clearfield Aquatic Center; Clearfield Community Band & Clearfield Community Choir & Children's Choir spring concerts
May - Take Pride in Clearfield (green up/clean up day) - throughout the city
June - National Trails Day - trail by Steed Park tennis courts; Free Movie Nights Under the Stars-Thursday evenings in June
July - Clearfield City Fourth of July Celebration - Summer Pool Bash, Movie Night Under the Stars, Freedom 5K Run/2-Mile Walk (free in 2017! Donations are being accepted for the Air Force Association's Wounded Airman Program), Pancake Breakfast, Parade, Festival at Fisher Park with live entertainment, games, food and fireworks!
July 4 Sponsorship Information (2019 Info now available!)
July 4 Parade Information (2019 info now available!)
August - Kids' Splash, Ride & Dash Mini-Triathlon - Clearfield Aquatic & Fitness Center
September - K-9 Swim Time - Clearfield Aquatic & Fitness Center


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Eccles Cakes (Stuffed Pastry with Brandy-Soaked Raisins) Recipe
Sometimes called a Fly Pie or Fly Cake, this pastry is not a common one in North America, but with a few ingredients and about half an hour you can have a classic British pastry to be proud of. Traditionally, Eccles Cakes are made with currants, which can be difficult to find as well as costly. This recipe substitutes golden raisins, which are a bit sweeter than currants but plump and take on the flavor of the brandy and spices very nicely.
When cutting the puff pastry use cutters of two different sizes so that the top piece of pastry is just a bit bigger than the bottom. This will help the pastry to puff evenly around the filling, and will help the filling not spill out of the pastry as well. This recipe will yield 10 cakes about 2 ½ inches across, so if you have circle cutters in your kitchen, using a 2 inch and a 2 ½ inch cutter will yield ideal results.
These cakes are fantastic when baked and then served so that the pastry stays crisp. But if you have a few leftover and are looking to revive them a few minutes, in a hot oven will perk them up.
Read more: British Bites: Eccles Cakes
- Yield:makes 10 cakes
- Active time: 10 minutes
- Total time:30 minutes
- 1 cup golden raisins
- 1/2 cup brandy
- 1/4 cup juice from 1 orange
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 pound puff pastry (thawed if frozen)
- 1 egg, beaten
Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Combine raisins, brandy, orange juice, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium low heat. Cook until raisins are plump and liquid is absorbed, about 7 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature.
Unroll puff pastry. Using round biscuit cutters, cut ten 2-inch circles and ten 2 1/2-inch circles. Place a small mound of filling in center of each of the smaller rounds of puff pastry and brush edges with egg. Top each piece of pastry with a larger round of pastry and press the edges to seal. Brush each filled cake with beaten egg. Place pastries on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Use a small paring knife or kitchen shears to cut three air slits into top of each cake. Bake in preheated oven until pastry is golden brown and puffed, about 20 minutes. Serve warm.
This Recipe Appears InBritish Bites: Eccles Cakes
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After four long years for British and Irish fans, the Lions roar into life once again for the 2013 Tour of Australia and Sky Sports will be the only place to witness all the drama as a magical month of rugby unfolds.
Warren Gatland and his coaching staff will be looking to secure the first Lions series win since South Africa in 1997 and create a new breed of legends to wear the famous red jersey, led by captain Sam Warburton.
The Lions will be heading down under for the 125th anniversary tour to take on Australia in three test matches and a further six tour matches, with an additional game to kick-start the tour in Hong Kong against the famous Barbarians side on June 1.


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Not Your Bag
Design Details
Hey funny man! Snap up this hilarious bag tag and mark your luggage in a unique way. Great for identifying your black suitcase in that sea of other... black suitcases. This not your bag tag lets everyone know to keep their hands OFF!
Category: Offensive Shirts
Tags: luggage tag, custom, offensive, not your bag
Size Chart
|No Size
|Width (Inches):
|Height (Inches):
Product Details
Customize a fun luggage tag for your next trip. Also great for cheer, dance and other sports bags.
- Heavy, durable plastic
- 3/32" thick
- Vibrant, full-color printing
- Comes with 9" long high quality flexible plastic loop
- Made in USA
- All measurements are provided by vendor; vendor tolerance for all measurements is +/-10%
- All provided measurements are in inches
Earn 10.00% when you sell this item.
Interested in Storefronts?
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Oberheide, it turns out, has gotten to know Google's Rich Cannings at various security conferences, and it was Cannings who asked him to remove the applications from the Market. With his blog post, Oberheide also says that according to Cannings, this is the first time Google has used its REMOVE_ASSET mechanism. Unlike some, Oberheide isn't fussed about Google's kill switch. But he does take issue with its INSTALL_APP mechanism.
Both mechanisms operate over a persistent TCP/SSL/XMPP connection that Google maintains between its servers and Android handsets via a service called GTalkService. "If an attacker is able to MITM [man in the middle] this SSL GTalkService connection for a particular device, it may be possible to spoof these INSTALL_ASSET messages to deliver a malicious application payload. If Google's GTalkService servers were compromised, the malicious impact would obviously be a bit more widespread," he says.
"You better believe that myself and others are taking a careful look at these code paths."
He adds that the INSTALL_ASSET is invoked every time the user installs an application on their own through the Android Market – meaning it's a fundamental part of Google's setup. "Instead of downloading the APK [Android package] from the Market, clicking 'Install' will trigger Google's servers to push a INSTALL_ASSET message down the GTalkService pipe. Upon receiving this message, your phone will download and install the APK," he says.
We still say the kill switch is more unsettling – little different from Amazon's Orwellian ability to remotely remove books from the Kindle. Amazon may say it won't use the thing, but it can be legally compelled to do so. Or it may use it for fear of legal action.
It's unclear whether Google's "kill switch" can remove applications that were not download through the Android Market. But Oberheide tells us he's working to reverse engineer the tool, in an effort to determine whether it can. ®


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Creepy Video Surfaces From Jack White's Secret Show in a Psych Ward
Remember back in early July when Jack White staged an elaborate secret show at a fictitious medical clinic in London called Vescovo? Well apparently that's not completely over yet.
It all started a little over a month ago when White offered some cryptic clues online, including a fake video supposedly from 1948 that discussed a disease outbreak and offered clues to curious fans. Those who figured out what was up were called with information leading them to the super-secret show at an unused office building that was turned into the Vescovo & Co. Clinic for Contagious Diseases; White even staffed the whole thing with gown-clad doctors, nurses and orderlies (all from the Punchdrunk immersive theater group).
Once inside, fans were asked to change into powder-blue gowns and were shuttled from room to room in the office building where they were examined. Eventually, an alarm sounded and they were all herded into the smoke-filled basement where White and his band performed a 30-minute set until the frontman, according to a press release recapping the show, "fell to the ground in a fit of convulsions before being strapped to a stretcher and wheeled off to a waiting ambulance."
On Aug. 19, White posted a grainy video and a statement reportedly from one of the "nurses" at the clinic.
The truth about Vescovo – A message from Nurse Hopper:
I am Nurse Nancy Hopper, the last survivor of the outbreak at Vescovo & Co's London clinic. I don't have long left but wanted you to know the truth. You are receiving this message because you appear on the Vescovo database and may be at risk.
Here is the only footage I could salvage from that night.
Be careful.
So what does this recent development mean? Will there be more secret shows? Maybe a full-length video? Watch the new clip below and let us know what you think.


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|Feb 22, 2013
With robots, humans face 'new society' (w/video)
|(Nanowerk News) Humanity came one step closer in January to being able to replicate itself, thanks to the EUs approval of funding for the Human Brain Project. Danica Kragic, a robotics researcher and computer science professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, says that while the prospect of living among humanoid robots calls to mind terrifying scenarios from science fiction, the reality of how humans cope with advances in robotics will be more complex, and subtle.
|Robots will challenge the way we feel about machines in general, Kragic says. A completely different kind of society is on the way.
|The Human Brain Project will involve 87 universities in a simulation of the cells, chemistry and connectivity of the brain in a supercomputer, in order to understand the brains architecture, organisation, functions and development. The project will include testing brain-enabled robots.
|Will we be able to just by the fact that we can build a brain build a human? Why not? What would stop you? Kragic asks.
|Nevertheless, consumer-grade robots are a long way from reality, says Kragic, who in addition to serving as Director of KTHs Centre for Autonomous Systems, is also head of the Computer Vision and Active Perception Lab.
|Danica Kragic interview
|She says that in order for robots to offer some value to households, researchers and developers will have to overcome some daunting technological challenges. Robots will have to multitask and perhaps even be programmed to have emotional capacities programmed into their logical processes, she says.
|Based on the state of the environment and what it is expected of the robot, we want the outcome action to be acceptable to humans, she says. Many things that we do are based not just on facts, so should machines somehow have simulated emotions, or not? Either way, it is difficult to predict how that will affect their interaction with humans.
|Kragic sees robots making a largely positive contribution to society. But they will also present some novel problems for which humans have few reference points, such as what are the social norms for interacting with robots?
|There is a discussion about robot ethics and how we should treat robots, Kragic says. Its difficult to say whats right and wrong until you are actually in the situation where you need to question yourself and your own feelings about a certain machine and the big question is how your feelings are conditioned by the fact that you know its a machine, or dont know whether its a machine.
|Kragic predicts that one of the most popular consumer application of robots will be as housekeepers, performing the chores that free up time for their owners. They could also take over jobs that are repetitive, such as operating buses or working in restaurants. On the other hand, the robot industry will expand and create jobs, she predicts.
|As for the possibility that one day robots will turn on us Kragic is skeptical. A robot rebellion - thats the ultimate science fiction scenario, right? Its worth placing some constraints on robots, such as (author Isaac) Asimovs Three Rules of Robotics. At the same time, we have rules as humans, which we break. No one is 100 percent safe, and the same can happen with machines.
|Human rebellion against robots is far more likely, she says, pointing out that even as societys attitudes toward automation evolve over generations, the debate over whether humans have the right to play God will likely continue. There will be people for and against it, she says. But what is wrong with building a human? We have been raised in a society that thinks this is wrong, that this is playing God.
|Subsequent generations could have a different view.
|Source: KTH The Royal Institute of Technology
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This is a long, but very interesting read. I have said this many times before, that South Africa needs more leaders like Dr Mangosuthu Buthelezi.
From Politicsweb, by Dr Mangosuthu Buthelezi:
The people want the IFP back - Mangosuthu Buthelezi
Mangosuthu Buthelezi
16 December 2012
President says his party's past warnings have been vindicated
Ulundi: 15 December 2012
On the centenary of the founding of the oldest liberation movement on the African continent, and on the eve of Mangaung, the IFP gathers to take some important decisions on the road ahead. We have laboured in South Africa for almost four decades, and have met with opposition at every turn; for the IFP constantly holds a light to the truth in our country, and shows what should be, what could be, and what is so patently wrong.
But we don't bite at the heels of the ruling Party. Our presence is enough to rile deficient leaders, and ignite hope in a despairing people. For wherever our country's leadership has lost direction, the IFP holds out the moral compass and points to true North.
True North is the fact that our liberation struggle is far from complete. True North is that our country has become mired in corruption and self-interest, which threaten economic freedom. True North is our people's utter disillusionment with a democracy that cannot offer equality, employment or unity. The IFP has never played the propaganda game, but we have been on the receiving side of many lies, vilifications and attack. In the midst of it all, we stand as the voice of reason.
In this present moment of South Africa's history, as the ANC stands poised again to impose a President on our country, and as every assessment, survey, index and report confirms what we already know - that South Africa's leadership is failing - the IFP must fulfil its role. Our role now is not that different from the role we have played for 37 years, under diverse circumstances. In the time ahead, we must remain the voice of reason.
Thirty seven years ago, Inkatha yeNkululeko yeSizwe â" the National Cultural Liberation Movement was the voice of reason calling for the unbanning of political parties and the release of political prisoners, when an Apartheid Government drove divisions between South Africans. We were the voice of reason refusing so-called independence for KwaZulu, when the nationalist regime sought "separate development" and the loss of citizenship for millions of black South Africans.
Thirty five years ago, Inkatha was the voice of reason in the midst of the ANC's campaign to make South Africa ungovernable. We built 6 500 schools, while the ANC encouraged young people to burn them down. Thirty three years ago, Inkatha was the voice of reason speaking out against economic sanctions, the campaign of disinvestment, and an armed struggle that would wash our country in blood, while the ANC's mission-in-exile shaped a new daily hardship for our people.
Twenty nine years ago, Inkatha was the voice of reason calling for the end of the ANC's People's War that was claiming the lives of hundreds of innocent people. Twenty two years ago we were the voice of reason refusing to allow a democratic dispensation to be negotiated bi-laterally without the presence and contribution of every political representative. Twenty years ago, we were the voice of reason insisting that a Bill of Rights be contained in our democratic Constitution, and that provinces be given autonomy so that the people could finally govern from the bottom up.
Eighteen years ago, the IFP was the voice of reason, insisting that labour legislation be designed to allow maximum flexibility in the labour market, to ensure that both employment and productivity would flourish in the new South Africa. Ten years ago, the IFP was the voice of reason calling on Government to roll out anti-retrovirals to all pregnant women to prevent HIV transmission to their new-born babies, just as we were doing in KwaZulu Natal.
Five years ago, the IFP was the voice of reason warning that corruption was rotting our country like a fish, from the head. This year, we have been the voice of reason calling for a debate of no confidence in the leadership of our country's President, because undelivered textbooks, teachers' strikes, Marikana, tenderpreneurship, scandal, corruption and a failing state are not what we fought a liberation struggle to achieve.
South Africa is in a terrible state. Our politics is deeply troubled by power-plays and self-enrichment. Our economy is wracked by recession and inappropriate policy. Our society is burdened by poverty, criminality and unemployment. Our people suffer the daily indignities that accompany poor service delivery, and the daily loss of hope that accompanies empty promises. We are still a country of inequalities.
This is not the country we struggled for 100 years to reach. And the ANC of today is not the liberation movement of 1912. There is a nexus; for the further the ANC moves from its founding principles to become this party of corruption, self-enrichment and self-interest, the further South Africa will move from being a country of freedom, unity and hope.
What stands in the way of this downward slide? The voice of reason. The IFP.
We were born of the same founding principles that birthed the ANC in 1912, but we remained true to those principles as the ANC began to take a different route. As the ANC has evolved into a massively rich, massively selfish machine for the elite, the IFP has stayed true to the founding principles of the liberation struggle. Thus, as our struggle continues, the IFP carries the true legacy of liberators and freedom fighters. Within the IFP, all that was good about the past continues, and all that is good for the future remains.
But as we stand, facing the crisis of our nation and the fullness of our responsibility as the voice of reason, the IFP must carve out space to decide on its own way forward. This is that time. This conference is the opportunity for the IFP to secure our footing on the road ahead, for the sake of our nation, for the sake of our Party and for the sake of redirecting our struggle towards genuine freedom for all South Africans.
Friends, we have faced a very turbulent time. The fact that we are meeting only now, when we should by rights have met in 2009, is a clear indication of the troubles we have faced since the last national elections in our country. I want to remind us of the words of former President Nelson Mandela, who admitted in public in 2002 that the ANC has pursued an agenda of destroying the IFP ever since 1979, when the ANC first abandoned the principle of non-violence and found that Inkatha would not follow suit. Mandela said, "We have used every ammunition to destroy (Buthelezi), but we failed. And he is still there. He is a formidable survivor. We cannot ignore him."
I am reminding us of those words today, for it would be a serious miscalculation on our part if we supposed that the plot of the ANC against the IFP is a thing of the past. "We cannot ignore him", Mandela said. In other words, we cannot set aside our goal, believing that Buthelezi no longer poses a threat to the ANC. There is no question in anyone's mind that the IFP still poses a threat to the ruling Party. While journalists and analysts, often for suspect reasons, like to pen the premature obituary of the IFP, the ANC has never written us off.
The plan that they hatched to finally destroy the IFP after 2009 caused chaos in our midst. Let us remember the events of the past three years; not to cry over spilt milk, but to remind ourselves afresh that the opposition we have faced for 37 years is not about to diminish as we enter the third decade of democracy. The road ahead for the IFP is not going to be easier. The ANC has not given up its fight against us, and it is joined now by the NFP who has its own bitter bile to spread.
I wish to thank our Deputy National Chairperson, Mr VB Ndlovu, for setting out so comprehensively the history of the split in the IFP, the formation of the NFP and the evidence of the ANC's involvement as the primary driver. We have remembered the events of the last three years. Confronted with the evidence of the ANC's involvement in the ructions, I did not remain silent.
I spoke in the National Assembly during the State of the Nation Debate in February 2011, laying out all the evidence and plainly asking the ANC why it was still pursuing this agenda of destroying the IFP. No one in the leadership of the ANC, not even the President himself, contradicted my accusations in Parliament, beyond some howling from the benches and the President taking exception to my speaking so frankly about a conversation he deemed private between the two of us.
In that conversation, in July 2010, the President of the ANC, Mr Jacob Zuma, advised me to step down, because of the divisions in my Party over my leadership. When I think back now to that conversation, I marvel that the President has not taken his own advice, considering the depth of divisions within his own party over his own leadership.
I did not take the President's advice because, as I explained to him, my Party elected me and my Party retains the prerogative to ask me to stay or leave. It is amazing that the President of the ANC thinks he can dictate to the rank and file of the IFP who should lead this party. That is for you to decide. That decision will be made here, in this venue, today.
Today, all those gathered in this marquee will decide the fate of the IFP. It is up to you, the rank and file of our Party, to decide whether the IFP will continue on its upwards trajectory and go into 2014 much stronger and much louder, or whether the IFP will be handed to the ANC/NFP coalition on a silver platter to finally destroy and relegate it to history.
Let me tell you in no uncertain terms; those are the options. The IFP is not going to fade away. We are either going to become dramatically stronger, or dramatically weaker, based on the result of today's election.
The results of by-elections since May 2011 clearly tell us that the people of South Africa want the IFP to return in strength in 2014. Support for our Party is growing again. There is great dissatisfaction with the ANC/NFP coalition, but people have not been staying away from the polls during by-elections, as if there is no one they felt happy to vote for. They have been coming to the polls in impressive numbers, and casting their votes for the IFP.
The unequivocal message is that the people want the IFP to return. They want the IFP to come back stronger. Since May 2011, we have won by-elections in Mtubatuba, in Ulundi and in Nongoma, where we increased our percentage of the vote. In June we won in Nqutu and increased our percentage by almost 20%. In August we won in Umtshezi, and also took uPhongolo from the NFP. In September we won in Nongoma and increased our percentage of the vote. In November, we again increased our share of the vote in Nqutu. Ten days ago, we took Hlabisa from the NFP, we won KwaMashu, and we took Nkandla, the hometown of the ANC President away from the ANC.
That is the kind of support the IFP is getting. There is no mistaking the message from the electorate, that the IFP is wanted, needed and supported. We are back on an upward path.
For this, I want to thank the people in this marquee. Thank you for keeping faith with the IFP through the turbulent times of the past three years. Thank you for not being led astray by promises of tenders, jobs and money. Thank you, too, for embracing the Roadmap strategy, and for supporting this blueprint for our future. Thank you for mobilising our supporters and for getting the message of truth out to our people, to contradict the many lies against us. Thank you for ensuring the IFP's survival and for placing us again on an upward path. Your hard work and commitment to the IFP has not gone unnoticed. You are the true heroes and heroines of the IFP story.
Ours is a story that has been written over 37 years, through great hardship, danger, sorrow and loss. It is written in the words of lives; lives lost, but also lives transformed. For through all the hardship that has accompanied South Africa's story, the IFP has brought hope and help into countless homes.
I am intensely proud of the IFP's legacy. I have walked through our country in all these years, meeting the people we serve and taking their hand so that together we could build and grow and develop. I have seen destitute mothers empowered to grow food for their families. I have seen young people equipped with skills through the education and training institutions built by the IFP. Even today, I hear from South Africans who write to thank me for what we did ten, twenty and thirty years ago, because it changed their lives.
I have seen babies live because the IFP found a way to provide anti-retrovirals, even when an ANC led Government told the Constitutional Court it couldn't be done. I have seen breadwinners start businesses with the financial assistance of the KwaZulu Finance Corporation, which we established here when no one else would lend money to impoverished people. I have seen teachers supported and families held together. I have seen one generation after the next take up the cause of the IFP, not because it was the party of their parents, but because it is their own Party. The IFP serves the needs of today.
I have also seen legislation amended, bills being opposed, policy created and skilful debate within the National Assembly, in our Legislatures and the National Council of Provinces. I have seen small victories being won in municipal councils, and great victories being won at the national level. I remember the IFP giving our country a Bill of Rights. I remember the IFP giving our country provinces. I remember the IFP taking Government to court, and winning.
I have a lifetime of memories of the IFP and I am deeply proud of this Party. It has thus been painful for me to grapple with the needs of the Party, as I entered the twilight of my life, for anyone who has done and seen and served as much as I have, for as long as I have, surely deserves to rest.
It has been my intention for several years to retire and to hand the Party over to a younger leadership. You will recall that twice I announced my intention to retire, at our Conferences of 2004 and 2006. But twice our Party unanimously called on me to remain. I serve at the behest of the Party and thus I remained.
In 2009, knowing that I intended to retire, our National Council passed a resolution requesting that I remain at the helm of the IFP until such time as we could ensure a smooth leadership transition. That resolution reads as follows â" "The IFP National Council met in Ulundi on 24â"25 October 2009 and unanimously adopted the following RESOLUTION: National Council⦠urges Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi to continue to remain the unifying leader of the Party and to ensure a smooth and democratic succession transition when the time is ripe, and will appreciate his consideration of the matter." The National Executives of the Women's Brigade, the Youth Brigade and SADESMO confirmed this request.
I have been grappling with this decision for three years, for as much as I would wish to hand over the torch of this Party to a new generation of leaders, I have been hesitant to leave a burning house. The discovery that the fire was lit by our old opponents, the ANC, made a decision more difficult to reach.
Time and again I have said that my decision on whether or not to accept your request that I remain at the helm to oversee a smooth leadership transition, will only be conveyed at this Conference. Now is the time for me to pronounce on the matter.
You know that our Party has been engaged for several months in promoting the Roadmap strategy prepared by our former Secretary-General to assist me to make this decision. We have done that simultaneously with an audit of all our branches, for we discovered that not all the "Friends of VZ" defected to the NFP and some bogus branches remained. Not only that, but we found that some 3000 membership booklets had disappeared along with our defected members, who were now signing up bad-faith branches to send bad-faith delegates to Conference.
The old plan was still afoot to disrupt this Conference; this time to foist on us leaders with whom I would find it difficult to work if I agreed to oversee the transition. Our opponents hope that even if I agree to continue, I will resign in frustration, leaving the Party under pliable leaders that can easily be manipulated from outside our Party.
We saw, as we presented the Roadmap strategy to our various districts, that there was general support for the Roadmap and recognition across the board that this is the blueprint for our strengthened future. But, to my great disappointment, the District of Zululand emerged as the only voice of dissent. My own district rejected the names proposed by the National Council for the leadership of the IFP. National Council engaged these leaders, even postponing conference yet again, to give them time to properly discuss matters with their constituents.
I regret to report that it became evident that a slate was being used to disrupt the Roadmap strategy and to foist a different leadership on the IFP. I was surprised to see Mr Dladla's name come up again and again for the position of National Chairperson, when Mr Dladla had publically withdrawn from the Party earlier this year to attend to his business interests.
Mr Dladla became quite concerned when he heard his name was on this slate, and he spoke to Mr Gwala, Ms kaMadlopha-Mthethwa and myself expressing his bitterness that his name should be used to divide the Party. Mr Albert Mncwango and Mr Khawula, whose names were also put forward on the slate, have both expressed resentment that they were not approached in advance, and both of them have publically said they will not stand for nomination.
But some people have sown great confusion among our supporters, telling them that the National Chairperson automatically becomes the President of the Party if anything happens to the President. That is simply not true. We are a democratic organisation and the question of leadership will always go to a vote, as required by our Constitution. Based on the will of our Party, we have embraced the amendment of our Constitution to include the position of Deputy President. That too should allay any concerns and clear up any confusion.
There should, indeed, be no reason to oppose the Roadmap strategy or to reject the names put forward by National Council for leadership positions, other than the nefarious desire to play into the hands of our enemies. I have embraced the Roadmap strategy as the right extraordinary measure to bring us through such extraordinary times. I therefore consider the leadership proposed by National Council as part of a package. I would like to retire. But I will accept the request of National Council that I remain to oversee the leadership transition, if I am enabled to work with these people. I do not see the point of swimming against a tide that we can stop right here, right now. But I am willing to swim if I am swimming with a likeminded team.
Friends, we have enough opposition without opposing ourselves from within. The IFP carries a heavy responsibility as we leave this Conference to fulfil our role as the voice of reason in a turbulent time. We must leave this place united, with one vision, one voice and one shared purpose. The IFP has an important role to play. Don't be fooled into thinking that the IFP is wavering or indecisive. We are not alone in facing troubles in the present political landscape. In fact, we are not even alone in having postponed conference for so long. Due to its fierce internal battles, the ANC was forced to postpone conference in this province several times, the NFP did it too, and the DA is having to do it with their Youth, who are struggling to choose leaders at branch level.
Clearly things are changing in the political landscape of our country. There are some things that never change, like the ANC bussing people into wards in which they do not live to vote in by-elections. Those sorts of shenanigans have been going on in very election since 1994, and the IFP has repeatedly approached the IEC urging investigation and redress. Little has come of our complaints. But there are other aspects of politics that are changing rapidly, for the worse.
Personal enrichment has become the order of the day. In the midst of all the tenderpreneurship and self-enrichment, corruption is gaining pace in South Africa. I have been sounding the alarm on corruption for several years. More than five years ago, I called it a national crisis. But things have only become worse, and corruption has led to political violence. Analysts explain that poverty and the hope of positions that will open doors to power, and tenders, are driving political killings.
The ANC has seen such internal conflict that the General Secretary of its alliance partner, COSATU, has said, "Political killings are so commonplace in KwaZulu Natal, that we can no longer blame them on IFP warlords, because it's an inside job." Mr Vavi now has a death threat hanging over him, for the leadership battles in the ANC have been far more vicious than even the IFP experienced. In a party as rich as the ANC, there is much at stake when it comes to leadership elections.
This new trend in political killings has affected all parties, and the IFP has not gone unscathed. But we have been cushioned by our long-cultivated culture of non-violence, respect for life and discipline. IFP members and leaders have been lost, but to violence from outside our Party. Today, let us remember the men and women of the IFP who have fallen victim to political conflict. These lives cannot be restored by any amount of tears.
We remember today our slain victims, and all those who have paid a heavy price for supporting the IFP in the face of our enemies. We remember Mr Makhathini, Induna Biyela, Councillor Thembokwakhe Emmanuel Xulu, Ms Celiwe Shezi, Mr Bongani Lushaba, Mr Siyabonga Dlamini and Mr Sihle Biyela. There are many others whom we remember today, and we salute them again. We cannot forget more than 400 IFP leaders who were killed during the people's war and thousands of our members who perished in that war of attrition.
We continue their work as we strengthen the IFP to fight against corruption, unemployment, poverty, disease, crime, poor service delivery, poor leadership and under-development. For years the ANC has claimed to be the representatives of South Africa's oppressed and struggling people. But after eighteen years of democracy, with all the money of the State available to them, the ANC has done far too little, far too slowly, to assist the people they claim to serve. Some analysts have pointed out that the ANC has a vested interest in keeping the poor poor, uneducated and dependent, for this is their voting block.
If that is true, it is a despicable truth, for our people are suffering terribly. The aim of the IFP has always been to uplift. We have helped people to rise out of their circumstances, through education, partnership and shared efforts. It can be done. So why is the ANC not doing it?
Wherever I go, I listen to people and I hear their hearts' cry. I have heard disappointed ANC supporters calling the ANC "cruel" when it appears just before an election, and disappears just as quickly. I have heard rural communities cry that they cannot go to the city and pull electricity back to their homes, but must just sit and wait for Government. I have heard people ask why in a democracy there are private hospitals for the rich and community clinics for the poor, private schools for the rich and mud schools for the poor, private security for the rich, but only one policeman to protect 425 ordinary South Africans.
People are not fools. In fact, when Eskom proposed another 16% price hike, every year, for the next five years, an ANC MPL said in the media, "I hope the ANC does not send me to sell this to my constituency, because I am not convinced. Then how can the public be convinced?" Why does the ANC keep trying to convince us to accept more and more hardship, as though it were acceptable? Why are things acceptable to the ANC leadership that are completely unacceptable to the rest of South Africa?
Think how often we all took exception to the rantings of the former ANC Youth League President, Mr Julius Malema, who rammed the nationalisation of mines down our throats and scared away international investors, while the country's President did nothing to contradict him. Mr Malema insulted everyone, from the leaders of the opposition, to white South Africans, to big business, banks, industry, the international media and even Government Ministers. But the leadership of the ANC said nothing. Ahead of the 2009 elections, Mr Malema brazenly threatened to invade my home at KwaPhindangene and recruit my wife and children to the ANC. The ANC leadership said nothing. Malema called me a factory fault of the ANC, and the leadership said nothing.
But when Malema made the mistake of insulting Mr Zuma, it was all over for him, and he is now being investigated for fraud and corruption.
Nevertheless, the nationalisation of South Arica's mines is still on the agenda of the Mangaung conference that begins tomorrow. Why is the ANC still discussing this issue when it insisted this is not Government policy? If it becomes ANC policy, it will become Government policy, whether we like it or not, whether it is good for the country or not. It's not about the good of the country anymore. It's about the pockets of a few at the top.
We have all judged for ourselves how we feel about our taxpayers' money being lavished on President Zuma's house in Nkandla just as his term is drawing to an end. Hundreds of millions have been spent on so-called improvements, like a helipad and security fences. Of course when the DA announced it would visit Nkandla to inspect these improvements and see for itself how the President is spending our money, the ANC was up in arms about it. It was fine for Malema to invade my private home, but not okay for the DA to visit Nkandla to exercise its oversight role as the largest opposition Party.
There is a growing sense that the ANC has something to hide. This emerged as we fought against the Protection of State Information Bill, popularly known as the "Secrecy Bill". Across the spectrum of civil society, industry, the academia, the media, the religious community, traditional leaders and political parties, the Secrecy Bill has been vehemently rejected. Yet the ANC has ignored the dictates of democracy and is set to introduce legislation that the whole of the country has rejected.
On the impetus of fighting the Secrecy Bill, all opposition parties represented in Parliament have come together in a Multi-Party Opposition Forum. We came together to hold joint rallies, demanding that the voice of the people be heard and respected when it comes to the Secrecy Bill, and all other issues of governance.
Put in its simplest form, the Secrecy Bill is a way for the ANC-led Government to silence media reports on corruption, so that corrupt leaders can get away with whatever they want without having to worry about the spotlight of public scrutiny. Thus, out of the joint opposition to the Secrecy Bill, the Coalition Against Corruption naturally evolved. The fight against corruption united us. Never before has one single threat to our democracy united a diverse opposition. This speaks of a new era in politics; one that we must explore further.
The Democratic Alliance has spoken publically about a closer partnership among opposition parties, although they have not formally approached the IFP for discussions. I am sure you will also have heard statements by the Honourable Mr Lekota, the Leader of the Congress of the People, intimating that the opposition must now extend its cooperation as a united front against the ANC. I think many people would watch such an alliance with interest to see whether we could indeed topple an increasingly corrupt and self-interested ruling party. We in the IFP are not new comers to such coalition politics. We did have a coalition for democracy with the DA, under the leadership of the Honourable Tony Leon in 2004. Although some people in both parties were enraged by the fact that coalition did not give us the results we were hoping it would give us, it did not sour the good relations we built between Mr Leon and myself. And this is a road I travelled extensively when I worked with Mr Oliver Tambo - the leader of the ANC mission-in-exile until 1979. Before that in the very dark days of apartheid we cooperated with my two friends who led the Progressive Federal Party Mr Colin Eglin and Dr van Zyl Slabbert. We even had joint rallies against the tri-cameral system. Before that I was very close to those great freedom fighters; Alan Paton and Helen Suzman. And in spite of the Improper Interference legislation during the dark days of apartheid, which prevented members of different races belonging to one Party, I led the South African Black Alliance with the Coloured Labour Party. The Reform Party - an Indian Party led by my friend Yellan Chinsamy. And the Dikwakwentla Party led by Mr Mopeli of Qwaqwa and Inyandza Movement led by Mr Enos Mabuza of KaNgwane. So coalition politics is not a new game for us in the IFP. We have to think very carefully if and when the time comes to consider another travel along that road.
I received a very warm letter from the leader of the DA in Parliament, Ms Lindiwe Mazibuko complimenting me for the cooperation that has taken place between opposition parties during this year.
On the road ahead, those discussions will no doubt come, and we will engage our members accordingly. The IFP is a democratic organisation that has always sought to identify and act on the genuine will of the people. What we know for sure is that the people of South Africa do not want a country in which learners score 13% for maths in their Annual National Assessments, while the Minister of Basic Education quibble over the usefulness of school inspectors. Our people do not want a country that is consistently sliding down the ranks on the International Corruption Perception Index, to the point that we are now ranked 69th most corrupt out of 176 countries, having dropped 15 places in just two years.
Does the ANC even understand how to get our country out of this mess? How can the President declare they will create half a million jobs by a certain date, and then proceed to shed more than a million jobs instead? Does the ANC have such a poor grasp on economics and the needs of our country? Is it incompetence, or intentional mismanagement?
Why did the ANC ignore the insistent calls for a Youth Wage Subsidy to encourage employers to employ young South Africans? More than 50% of our youth are unemployed. 7.5 million South Africans are out of work. Something must be done. When President Zuma instead suggests a job-seekers' grant, one cannot help but think of what the analysts say: â˜Keep them dependent and in need, and they will keep voting ANC'.
Our people need jobs. They need education. They need electricity. They need protection from crime. They need leaders they can respect. They need help getting ahead in very difficult circumstances so that the opportunities of a democratic South Africa will not simply be pretty words on a tattered poster.
When the ANC doesn't know what to do about a problem, they throw money at it. Your money. They have seen the growing problem of food security, which the IFP has been warning about and working to solve for thirty years through support to small scale farmers. The ANC's solution? Send a parliamentary delegation to Brazil and Chile for 15 days to learn how they support small scale farmers. The trip will cost R1.2 million. The ANC has seen how state assets, like South African Airways, constantly need multi-million Rand bailouts. For years the IFP has said privatise the airline. But the ANC's solution? Send a delegation to Australia for seven days to learn best practices in managing state assets. That'll cost R737 000.
Our newspapers are full of the big figures spent by the ANC in trying to solve problems that the IFP warned about years ago. Our Party has been right there with solutions and answers, but we have been ignored. In fact, when the ANC took over the governance of this province in 2004, they shut down teacher training colleges and halted development projects for no other reason than that they were birthed by the IFP.
This hatred for the IFP is not new to the ANC. They have cultivated it over almost four decades. I am therefore placed in a very difficult situation when the King of the Zulu Nation, King Goodwill Zwelithini, calls on us to declare that there is reconciliation between the ANC and the IFP. How can I do that when I know that reconciliation has been muscled off the agenda under the present leadership of the ANC? It would be hypocritical of me, as a Christian and as the leader of the IFP, to pretend that reconciliation is complete when even now there are threats to my life and the insults against the IFP continue, unabating.
Even now the ANC plans to change the name of Mangosuthu Highway to Griffiths Mxenge Highway, even though I did not name the highway personally, just because it irks them that I should be remembered at all in this province. That is not an indication that they want reconciliation.
I have pursued reconciliation with the ANC for decades. I have spoken peace and called for negotiations and steered our people away from bloodshed. You have heard the history from our Deputy National Chairperson, of how we formed the 3-a-side, 5-a-side and 15-a-side committees to pursue reconciliation, and how our efforts were continually foiled.
You have heard how President Mbeki offered me the Deputy Presidency, which was torpedoed by the ANC leadership in KwaZulu Natal, by Mr Jacob Zuma himself. You have heard how the ANC engineered the split in our Party, and you have seen how they side-lined the IFP in the celebration of the centenary this year, as though the IFP played no part in the liberation struggle of our country.
How can I stand and say that reconciliation has been achieved? We are at a disadvantage, for the ANC has vast sums of money at its disposal and believes it can still destroy the IFP. Our great advantage, and our greatest asset, is the genuine will of the people. For decades the ANC has been abusing this concept of "the will of the people", using it as an excuse for everything the top leaders of the ANC want to impose on us.
But behind this tactic of declaring "the will of the people" lies the knowledge that the genuine will of the people, loudly expressed, has great authority and impact. I want to challenge you, as the leaders of the IFP, to claim back what has been misappropriated and abused. Claim back the authority you have as "the people". Learn how to draw together in numbers, in an organized effort, to make a united statement that cannot be ignored. Take back the right to express the genuine will of the people, rather than merely expressing the discontent of our nation.
Today, I ask you to strengthen the IFP. Through your vote and through discussions, I ask you to place the IFP on a steady footing as we navigate the road ahead. The IFP must go through a transition, while remaining the Party our people are again calling for and recognising as the voice of reason. We need to walk through our leadership transition with our legacy intact, for the sake of our Party and the sake of our country. South Africa's liberation struggle continues. Let us strengthen the liberation party that still retains the moral compass and remembers the principles of 1912. Unity, inclusivity, non-violence. That is the legacy of the IFP. Through the IFP, may it become the legacy of South Africa.
Aluta continua! The struggle continues!
Issued by the IFP, December 15 2012


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(CBS News) Could the Stuxnet virus that sabotaged the Iranian nuclear program be used against the U.S. infrastructure or other high profile targets? A retired American general who was the head of the Central Intelligence Agency when Stuxnet would have been created calls the cyber weapon a "good idea," but warns it is out there now for others to exploit. Steve Kroft reports on Stuxnet and the potential consequences of its use in a "60 Minutes" story to be broadcast Sunday, March 4 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.
About two years ago, the all-important centrifuges at Iran's nuclear fuel enrichment facility at Natanz began failing at a suspicious rate. Iran eventually admitted that computer code created problems for their centrifuges, but downplayed any lasting damage. Computer security experts now agree that code was a sophisticated computer worm dubbed Stuxnet, and that it destroyed more than 1,000 centrifuges. Many believe the U.S., in conjunction with Israel, sabotaged the system. Retired Gen. Mike Hayden, once head of the NSA and CIA, who was no longer in office when the attack occurred, denies knowing who was behind it, but said, "This was a good idea, alright? But I also admit this was a big idea, too. The rest of the world is looking at this and saying, 'Clearly, someone has legitimated this kind of activity as acceptable.'"
Not only that, says Hayden, but the weapon, unlike a conventional bomb that is obliterated on contact, remains intact. "So there are those out there who can take a look at this...and maybe even attempt to turn it to their own purposes," he tells Kroft.
In fact, says Sean McGurk, who once led the Department of Homeland Security's efforts to secure U.S. systems from cyberattack , "You can download the actual source code of Stuxnet now and you can repackage it...point it back to wherever it came from." McGurk worries terrorists or a rogue country could refashion it to attack U.S. infrastructure like the power grid or water treatment facilities, even nuclear power plants. He tells Kroft he would never have advised anyone to unleash such a weapon. "They opened the box. They demonstrated the capability...it's not something that can put back."
The creators of Stuxnet never intended their worm to be discovered says one of the people most responsible for deconstructing its code. Liam O Murchu, an operations manager for computer virus security company Symantec, thinks whoever launched it partially failed because the virus was discovered. "You don't want the code uncovered, you want it kept secret," says O Murchu. "You want it to just keep working, stay undercover, do its damage and disappear."
Creating such a cyberweapon, so sophisticated it could be hiding in any number of computers but only strikes the target it was intended to, probably cost many millions. Now, with the code out there, it can be replicated cheaply. "You just need a couple of millions," says Ralph Langner, an expert in industrial control systems who also was instrumental in analyzing Stuxnet. And it wouldn't take the resources of a government to find the right people he says; they are on the Internet. "If I would be tasked with assembling a cyberforce, yeah, I would know whom to approach. So that's not a real secret," says Langner.


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It serves to accommodate two mags RPK.
- To avoid dirt, sand, etc. pouch has a volume valve.
- Valve pouch is closed with turnstile buttons duplicated textile clasp "contact." To facilitate the opening, especially in winter conditions, the valve is equipped with the seizure of the belt webbing.
- To avoid the possibility of collision between the stores is equipped with a removable pouch wall with a damper. When removing the partition can accommodate twin stores.
- In pouches can accommodate a 20-cartridge magazines for 9mm Automatic special AU (sniper rifle special BCC). It is recommended to remove the partition and the bottom of the pouch put the cartridges in a pack.
- At the bottom of the pouch has a hole for water drainage.
Weight: 120 gr.
Materials: Cordura 1000D or fabric art. 04s27 "Mogotex."
Was founded in October 1992 The main activity - development and serial production of elements of technique with the use of structural polymer composite materials based on high-strength high modulus synthetic fibers. Successful focus is the development and production of advanced tactical military equipment intended for use in the divisions of law enforcement agencies involved in counter-terrorism activities and perform special tasks autonomously in the various theaters.It is one of the main suppliers of theRussian army.


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NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the University of Colorado continue to implement programs on each campus that actively engage representatives of the disabled, faculty, students, staff, and administration which address the stereotypes and attitudinal barriers concerning disabilities, and in ADA compliance program planning and implementation processes; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the University continue the timely removal of physical and programmatic barriers through the implementation of its current ADA Transition Plans, consistent with the financial resources allocated for ADA implementation by the State of Colorado, as well as through other programs; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the University of Colorado develop plans for ensuring that the academic needs of the students with disabilities are met, specifically including access to library materials and computer facilities. The goal is to enable students with disabilities to participate fully in the educational experiences available at the University of Colorado while meeting the academic standards maintained by the institution; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT program enhancements resulting from this resolution be implemented immediately, consistent with available resources, and that the President shall provide to the Board of Regents an annual report that includes both a progress review and identification of the next year's objectives.
Last Amended: November 18, 1993
Adopted November 18, 1993, p. 59