text:
British pornographer Jasper Feversham was fed up. The Internets were sharing his films, quality work like Catch Her in the Eye, Skin City, and MILF Magic 3. He wanted revenge—or at least a cut. So Feversham signed on to a relatively new scheme: track down BitTorrent infringers, convert their IP addresses into real names, and blast out warning letters threatening litigation if they didn't cough up a few hundred quid.
"Much looking forward to sending letters to these f—ers," he wrote in an email earlier this year.
The law firm he ended up with was ACS Law, run by middle-aged lawyer Andrew Crossley. ACS Law had, after a process of attrition, become one of the only UK firms to engage in such work. Unfortunately for Crossley, mainstream film studios had decided that suing file-sharers brought little apart from negative publicity, and so Crossley was left defending a heap of pornography, some video games, and a few musical tracks.
Crossley parleyed the porn into national celebrity—or perhaps "infamy" would be a better word. Earlier this year, Crossley was excoriated in the House of Lords by Lord Lucas of Crudwell and Dingwall—yes, I know—for what "amounts to blackmail... The cost of defending one of these things is reckoned to be £10,000. You can get away with asking for £500 or £1,000 and be paid on most occasions without any effort having to be made to really establish guilt. It is straightforward legal blackmail."
Lord Lucas went on to offer an amendment to the (now-passed) Digital Economy Bill, titled "Remedy for groundless threats of copyright infringement proceedings."
But the Lords were just getting started. Lord Young of Norwood Green likened firms such as ACS Law to "rogue wheel-clampers, if I can use that analogy," while the Earl of Erroll railed against the way that "ACS Law and others threaten people with huge costs in court unless they roll over and give lots of money up front, so that people end up settling out of court. The problem is the cost of justice, which is a huge block. We have to remember that."
Lord Clement-Jones also called out Crossley's work. "Like many noble Lords, I have had an enormous postbag about the activities of this law firm. It is easy to say 'of certain law firms,' but this is the only one that I have been written to about... ACS seems to specialize in picking up bogus copyright claims and then harassing innocent householders and demanding £500, £650, or whatever—a round sum, in any event—in order to settle."
May go for a Lambo or Ferrari. I am so predictable!
That was only the start of Crossley's problems. In the last 12 months, Crossley has been targeted by the Blackpool municipal government, dogged by journalists, hounded by a major consumer group, and hauled up before the Solicitors Regulation Authority for disciplinary proceedings. Baffled, angry people write his office daily, denying any knowledge of his charges. He has blacklisted his own ex-wife in his e-mail client, demanding that she cut off all contact with him forever. Clients press him to pay up. His own data suppliers are, he fears, out to screw him, and Crossley harbors the suspicion that he could make far more money in America, where fat statutory damage awards mean he could demand even more cash from his targets.
And, just to put a ridiculous cherry atop his plate of problems, the streets department in Westminster, London—where Crossley keeps his office—went after ACS Law because some of their office waste mysteriously "ended up in the public highway."
"We are a tightly resourced small firm," Crossley complained as he wheedled the fine in half.
But not that tightly resourced. Crossley bragged over e-mail earlier this year that he "spent much of the weekend looking for a new car. Finances are much better so can put £20-30k down. May go for a Lambo or Ferrari. I am so predictable!" He began looking at new homes, including a gated property with "five double bedrooms, three bathrooms, modern kitchen and four reception rooms."
Keeping track of all the details might not be Crossley's strong suit. As he wrote (one assumes in jest) when a dispute about financial issues came up, "I am not an accountant, true. But I am a genius and everything I do is brilliant. You must understand that!"
He's also dogged. With all the hate, a lesser man might have buckled—as did other law firms like Tilly Bailey & Irvine, which dropped its own "settlement letter" business in April 2010 after "adverse publicity." Instead, Crossley plows ahead, defending work like To the Manner Porn and Weapons of Mass Satisfaction; indeed, he seems rather philosophical about his lot in life.
"Sorry to bombard you with more things to deal with," he wrote recently to a colleague, "but this business seems to have its share of complications." Indeed it does—and the complications get even more complicated when you anger the anonymous masses at 4chan, who promptly crash your website, expose your private e-mail, and in doing so shed a powerful and unflattering light on the real practice of P2P lawyering. Drawing on thousands of personal e-mails, Ars takes you inside the world of ACS Law, reveal its connections to the US Copyright Group, and discovers just what Andrew Crossley thinks of Godfather 3.
Spoiler: "Godfather 3 is not quite as bad as I remember."
Operation Payback —————–
"This will be a calm, coordinated display of blood," said the initial call to action. "We will not be merciful. We will not be newfags."
Users of the free-wheeling (to put it mildly) Internet community 4chan last week implemented "Operation Payback," a distributed denial of service attack against various anti-piracy groups the chanologists didn't like. The RIAA was hit. The MPAA was hit. But after some big targets, Operation Payback moved on to smaller firms, including ACS Law.
I have far more concern over the fact of my train turning up 10 minutes late or having to queue for a coffee than them wasting my time with this sort of rubbish.
After the group's data flood knocked the ACS Law website offline for a few hours, UK tech site The Register called up Andrew Crossley to ask him about the attack. The site was "only down for a few hours," Crossley said. "I have far more concern over the fact of my train turning up 10 minutes late or having to queue for a coffee than them wasting my time with this sort of rubbish."
He has something to be concerned about now. After these comments, Operation Payback hit ACS Law a second time, knocking out the site. In the process of bringing it back up, someone exposed the server's directory structure through the Web instead of showing the website itself. Those conducting Operation Payback immediately moved in and grabbed a 350MB archive of ACS Law e-mails, then threw the entire mass up on sites like The Pirate Bay.
This is more than a matter of mere embarrassment. The UK has tougher data protection laws than the US, and the country's Information Commissioner has already made it clear that ACS Law could be on the hook for hundreds of thousands of pounds. That's because, in addition to his iTunes receipts ("Hooray for iPads. I love mine," Crossley says at one point) and Amazon purchase orders, the e-mails include numerous attachments filled with all manner of private information: names, addresses, payment details, passwords, revenue splits, business deals.
All of which is horrible, terrible, awful news—unless you want to know how a firm like ACS Law actually works.
Meet the Accused —————-
After reading through many hundreds of e-mails, one thing becomes clear: ACS Law operates a rather boring business. That is, there's no juvenile gloating, no sinister cackling, no profanity-laced tirades (OK, there are a few tirades). The dominant picture is of a sober operation that spends most of its time in mind-numbing scanning and database work. They even reply personally to letters. Sure, all this work is in the service of dreck like Granny F—, but this is just a business, and Crossley is just a middle-aged solicitor trying to run an efficient operation.
But the effects of this operation on those accused of infringement are remarkable. The e-mail trove is stuffed with anguished pleas like this:
I was in total shock after receiving the letter I received from you today as explained in the telephone conversation. I will say that I was not the person responsible for this infringement. The only person who it could have been would be my son who is [name redacted]. I would never entertain the idea of downloading such a thing—in fact I do not even know how to download any type of software. I only use the internet for Ebay and emails. I also go on dating sites and facebook. This is where my knowledge of computers stops. I do not understand what P2P is....
At the time of the download, to my knowledge my son was visiting my home. I have no idea what he was looking at on my computer. I must add that I do not tolerate any such pornographic material. This letter has upset me greatly and I have spoken to my ex husband who also called yourself with regard to this matter.
Most of the notices seem to have gone to parents, as one would expect from a program targeting ISP account holders. But many of the parents seem baffled:
I have today received a legal notification from you that a pornographic film was downloaded from my internet connection in October 2009.I immediately phoned your contact number and was told to put my comments in writing. I am obviously shocked both at this alleged illegal activity and the fact that the title appears to be of an offensive nature. I can confirm that i have no knowledge of this download being carried out at my home address. I have checked my computer and my sons computer for any reference to this file (using windows search function) and have found no trace.I have spoken to my two sons about downloads (They are 8 and 12) but obviously not about the nature of this file and to be honest they know even less than me. My oldest child has used i tunes and downloaded games from a site called friv.com but these claim to be free. Is this true? or will it also result in copyright issues ?
Others are offended at the titles they are accused of sharing:
I am no prude and can see what type of material something entitled Granny F— is. I am the father of 5 children, 3 of these under the age of 7, and to suggest i would have such material on a computer is what i find offensive. May i also add that i am very anti pornography, having been abused as a child by someone who would use porn films before abusing me .this is why i am totally anti porn.
Then come the "innocent infringers," though some of these explanations can feel a bit... strained.
on the date 16-11-2009 at 16.35 i was browsing the internet namely bt junkie ,without going into a long story i accidentely pressed the download button for the copyright protected file british granny f— 5@6 which then opened my bittorrent client on my pc which the torrent is sent to with the forementioned file is attached. It normally takes a few minutes for the file to start downloading and before it did i realised what i had done and canceled the file preventing any copyright infringement from taking place. just by starting the download process would have been enough to leave my ip address listed. I hereby appologise for any inconvienience i have caused yourself or your client and can swear at no time was any part of the forementioned copyright protected file downloaded onto my pc or shared with anyone else.
(I mean, haven't we all, at one time or another, accidentally been browsing BitTorrent sites and accidentally clicked on a film called Granny F—?)
Others took responsibility for their actions:
I am writing in response to the recent letter my father [name redacted] received on the 13.04.2010 based on the subject of infringement of copyright. I would firstly like to state that I am solely responsible for this and I [name redacted] take full responsibility. I have read through all the information that you have supplied and I understand how serious the matter is—since last year 2009 I have not downloaded any material as I understood how it was a bad thing to do and how it is killing out industry.
I do take responsibility for this issue and I would very much like to ask if the required payment of £495 could somehow possibly be reduced. The reason i am asking this is because I am currently a student and money is a big factor and getting by generally is a hard thing to do.
Indeed, many of the guilty appear to be kids. Some parents figured it out:
"I would also like to also say that it was not my sons intention to fileshare this music and was unaware of how file sharing works as am I—I appreciate that this is no excuse but ask you to bear this in mind. As mentioned in previous correspondence from myself I am writing to again explain that my financial circumstances make it impossible for me to pay £400 in one go or even at £40 per month I am in extreme financial hardship with mounting debts and do not have any spare money - if you were to take this to court I would be unable to even pay the basic utility bills or even the necessary food bills.
If there's one great theme running through these letters, it's the poverty of the respondents. One is a "a single mum living of state benefits who cannot afford to pay any kind of money my daughter is very sorry for any problems caused," while another lives "in the hold of my bank overdraft my money is never my own. We at present find it very hard to make ends meet, at the moment I am trying to amass funds to pay our utility bills for this month and can not see any change in the near future." Students plead hardship due to school fees; many people claim to be unemployed.
But perhaps most creative are the letters that make no attempt at argument. These are sheer vitriol. One stands out among the rest:
Go f— your mum you stupid pakistani black jew. You zimbabwean immigrant.
So listen up fat f—, don't send me another letter. If you do send me another f—ing letter, I will rape your mum against the wall and I will blow up your house and kill you all in a terrorist attack.
In addition, I want a £3500 cheque written to me for the inconvinience [sic] you have caused me.
*If you do not reply to this email with a confirmation that you will pay me, I will hunt you down and stab you in the back and blow your d— up.*
Creative, in an unhinged way. If you had thoughts about going into P2P litigation, consider the sheer migraine-inducingness of getting such messages on a daily basis. Indeed, after reading the correspondence, it's not hard to see why one paralegal who worked at ACS Law during the summer of 2010 told a friend there was "no chance in hell" she would go back.
In Which Everyone Complains —————————
When you make people this angry, they tend to complain—and that's just what happened to Crossley. Earlier this year, UK Consumer group Which? noted that it had "heard from more than 150 consumers who believed they had been wrongly accused." One letter writer said, "My 78 year-old father yesterday received a letter from ACS law demanding £500 for a porn file he is alleged to have downloaded. He doesn't even know what file sharing or bittorrent is so has certainly not done this himself or given anyone else permission to use his computer to do such a thing."
Reporters began following up on such stories. One reporter, from the Daily Echo in Bournemouth, e-mailed Crossley about a particular local case—an Aberdeen man who spent most of his time near Bournemouth caring for an ill relative.
"He is accused of downloading the track 'Evacuate the Dancefloor' on October 2 last year," write the reporter. "Mr [name redacted] says he was in Dorset at the time, not in Aberdeen where his IP address is registered, and that he has airline tickets and medical appointment records to prove it. He says he leaves his internet connection switched off when he's away and no one else has access to it. He has no interest in pop music."
There were other problems. One of the firms providing Crossley with data on infringers then began to get balky, wanting more money than Crossley wanted to pay before turning over its information. "This guy is stupid," Crossley noted in an email to a colleague. "And he MUST release ALL data to us. It is ours. We have a deal. I will go to court this afternoon if he does not give it to us."
As if this wasn't enough, Crossley was subject to repeated, probing questions from the Solicitors Regulatory Authority, which controls lawyers in England and Wales. The group had received 400+ complaints about his firm's behavior. This was a big deal; the SRA could put Crossley out of business, and he had been in trouble with them before.
Back in 2002 and 2006, Crossley was disciplined by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, which ordered him to pay around £5,500 in fines and penalties. In both of these cases, Crossley had not submitted an accountant's yearly report on his firm—needed under UK rules to show that a lawyer does not improperly hang on to client funds.
The problem appeared to stem from a lack of cash. At one point, he told the tribunal handling his case that his lack of paperwork was "because he had been unable to raise the money to pay the accountant who retained the papers."
Crossley suffered "an extended period of clinical depression in 1999" and then a stroke in 2000. "The effect of the stroke, which caused him to lose his sight altogether for a brief period, was that the Respondent could not work full-time for a period and as a consequence he quickly got into financial difficulties."
Any bundle of documents sent by a law 'firm' headed with the words 'Letter of claim; Infringement of Copyright' is likely to cause distress
The new investigation wasn't about accounting, but about claims that Crossley was shaking down his targets. Things were bad enough that one of his ACS Law employees noted, "We are constantly being reminded by infringers that we are under investigation by the SRA."
To defend himself, Crossley secured the services of another lawyer. "I am meeting with my retained lawyer today regarding the sra," he wrote. "He is Andrew Hopper QC and he literally wrote the sra rules!"
But Andrew Hopper, QC couldn't save Crossley from the SRA, even if he did write their rules. On August 20, the SRA referred Crossley—once more—to the disciplinary tribunal.
"Absolutely predictable political decision to 'fast track' and give the problem to someone else; therefore SRA is seen by Which etc to be 'doing the right thing' without them actually having to think at all or justify the decision," sniffed Hopper.
The Blackpool municipal government also objected to Crossley's tactics. ACS Law was contacted by Blackpool, which complained that local citizens "have been significantly distressed by your letter and feel compelled to pay. You say that your letters are not demands but compromise agreements, but any bundle of documents sent by a law 'firm' headed with the words 'Letter of claim; Infringement of Copyright' is likely to cause distress and mislead the consumer into making a transactional decision they would not otherwise make... None of the complainants have any recollection of having downloaded the tracks in dispute."
The Blackpool official then notes that under UK law, damages are fixed at "economic loss, either realized or potential." When it comes to music tracks, the loss equals "the approximate market value of the track as a single download—79p. Without further transparency as to the legal costs mentioned above, I would imagine that this would be sufficient to bring the matter to a close."
Meet the U.S. Copyright Group —————————–
Indeed, the justice of this remark about damages haunts Crossley. One of his own legal advisers tells him that "establishing damages beyond the value of the gross profit of one copy of the work is problematic." In other words, a few pence for music. The advisor goes on to note that the one court case which would seem to prove the opposite "has, in my opinion, about as much legal force as a Sun newspaper headline regarding the licentious behavior of a D list celebrity."
We should get to work on this, I have massive copyright in the US. And in the US there is minimum statutory damages
"Therefore, it is my belief that the rights holder can only rely on the damage resulting from making a single copy of the work in infringement," he concludes, because of the difficulty in proving just how much (if any) "sharing" of the material with others took place. Lawyers are of course free to ask the courts for huge awards, but this carries the risk "that, in a defended case with competent opposing expert witnesses, the court will reject the application."
In other words, actually going to court would net very little money. Sending out letters and collecting a few hundred pounds is a much better business, which may explain why Crossley doesn't seem to sue people who refuse to settle. Yes, he promises to do so at some point, and the emails do show that he's considering hiring a litigator, but the campaign has been going over for quite some time now with no court action. (This is a common theme in the complaints against him; Crossley insists he's just trying to help everyone stay out of court.)
If only Crossley lived in America! "What is interesting is that it is the US model I want," he wrote earlier this year after hearing the news that the US Copyright Group was now filing mass Doe lawsuits against alleged movie pirates. "We should get to work on this, I have massive copyright in the US. And in the US there is minimum statutory damages."
Yes, statutory damages—under which copyright holders don't need to prove actual economic harm at all. The idea was that some infringement was simply too hard to quantify, but a system designed for commercial use has now been turned against US college students, leading to $1.92 million judgments in one case and $675,000 in another. (Both were so egregious that the judges involved tossed out the monetary amounts.) This is the system Crossley wants to profit from.
So he contacted Tom Dunlap of the Virginia law firm Dunlap, Grubb, and Weaver (DGW). DGW helped put the "US Copyright Group" together and does all the litigation on its cases, which include films like The Hurt Locker and Far Cry. Crossley wanted some kind of partnership.
"I own and operate the most prolific firm in the UK that identifies and pursues copyright infringements committed through peer to peer networks," he bragged to Dunlap. "I have a growing number of clients, existing and potential, including US based copyright owners and are actively looking to expand our work into the US, especially because of the ability to receive statutory damages for infringement and jury-awarded assessments of damages. I note that you act for Guardaley, a client of the person who introduced the file sharing work previously carried out by Davenport Lyons in the UK to my firm. It is a small world!
"I have substantial amounts of data, which I wish to exploit appropriately in the US and would very much like to speak with you with a view to exploring the possibility of an ongoing working relationship, to our mutual benefit. If this is of interest to you, please let me know."
The lawyers did a call. Later, they met up in Cannes, France at a conference. Crossley later booked a table at Le Baoli, which he described in another email to someone else as "the best club I have ever been in in my life! Le Baoli in Cannes! a million models in one place!" But the club was not serving dinner that night, and in the confusion over rescheduling, Crossley missed the DGW lawyers for dinner. But he did email later to say that "we are mailshotting all major uk film and music companies with the ucg [US Copyright Group] so you should get some calls soon." He seems to have believed a partnership was in the offing.
In a blog post soon after, Crossley announced his return from Cannes and said that "a new joint working relationship with US-based attorneys has opened up the North American region to our clients for identification and pursuit of illegal file sharing of their products." He was going to begin "cooperation with a newly-formed organization, the United Copyright Group."
That reference was scrubbed from the post two days later; Crossley had apparently been a bit too exuberant. Tom Dunlap told Ars that his firm was not working with ACS Law. He also told CNET this week that "the IT company [which the law firm uses to track file sharers] does not do anything for ACS Law."
But is that true?
The Mysterious "Guardaley" ————————–
The "IT firm" Dunlap mentions appears to be Guardaley, the BitTorrent detection company cited in US Copyright Group court filings. Guardaley identifies the IP addresses of suspected infringers, logs all necessary data, and turns this information over the lawyers. But the firm is deeply implicated in the US Copyright Group, not just a mere contractor.
Guardaley is based in Germany, where it is run by Bejamin Perino and Patrick Achache, though the firm has registered itself as a UK business, too, with an unlikely address in an Aldermaston office park.
In a document (PDF) filed with the White House's new "IP Czar" earlier this year, Perino is listed as the "managing director" of Guardaley, and Dunlap called on the expertise of his subordinate Achache as an expert witness who swore to the accuracy of the company's data in court filings. But then, in April of this year, another court filing appeared in the Far Cry case. Here, Perino declared that he was "one of four Managers of the US Copyright Group (USCG) which is a private company dedicated to anti-piracy efforts in the motion picture industry involving unlawful torrent downloading."
Virginia state records seen by Ars show that DGW set up "US Copyright Group" as a legal entity, though it appears to be some sort of partnership between the law firm and the techies at Guardaley.
Here's where it gets weird: this summer, after falling out with his detection company, Crossley turned to a young man named Terence, who is referenced above and who helped Crossley get into the settlement letter business. Terence then helped Crossley sign on with... Guardaley.
Crossley writes about a "guy I know called Patrick who is good friends with Terence. Patrick is based in Germany with a high quality system. We get no hidden charges and I will drop my charges to fully absorb the extra cost."
He needed to rush the deal through, because the pornographer Jasper Feversham was upset that detection of his works had stopped; Crossley needed a new data supplier as soon as he could get one.
The deal, for 15 percent gross, was done through Terence; no emails emerge from Guardaley at all. Even Crossley found the situation odd. "Also, I note that Guardaley in the UK is registered as a dormant company. That needs to be changed if that is the contracting company. And why is there a company in the UK and why its it registered in Aldermaston? What's all that about? (as Peter Kay would say)."
In response, Terence offers some intriguing details. "GL [Guardaley] has a number of companies for monitoring and different ones are used depending on content and jurisdiction. The data supplier for [ACS Law client] Mediacat will be a Swiss company to manage PR (you know how it is!)."
Despite using the same tech, Guardaley apparently operates under numerous names. This means that each of the entities it creates needs a separate "expert's report" verifying that the system is accurate. The one drafted for Guardaley itself wouldn't work; a new expert must be found.
"An independent expert's report is in place for Guardaley, but your monitoring will be done through a different legal entity," wrote Terence. "This will mean that we will need to get a new one created. There will be no problems, as the technology used will be exactly the same as Guardaley's." And later: "We are in correspondence with an expert and the report can be finalised fairly quickly, well in advance of the first court order."
So, while Tom Dunlap suggests that "Guardaley" doesn't work for ACS Law, some other company with a new name and the same tech is. This gives Guardaley a hand in the two major "settlement letter" factories in the United States and Britain.
Follow the Money —————-
Why bother with all these hassles, all the vitriol, all the criticism from the House of Lords? Money, for one. Despite Crossley's claim that he runs a "tightly resourced small firm," he appears to be doing alright for himself. After bragging about getting a "Lambo or Ferrari," Crossley instead settled on a Jeep Compass 2.4CVT.
He spent the summer looking for a new high-end home to rent; one property send over for his consideration was "a contemporary mansion with breath taking views in an elevated position on this exclusive gated estate. Arranged over three floors the accommodation comprises entrance hall, cloakroom, kitchen/breakfast room, utility room, large dining room, lounge with doors out onto patio and balcony and double bedroom suite. Stairs down to family room, four double bedrooms, shower room, family bathroom. Stairs down to indoor swimming pool, bar area/gym with doors out onto patio, double bedroom suite and storage room, double garage." Such places go from £6,000 to £8,000 a month; not a modest sum.
And he's looking to buy a bulldog puppy.
But despite the expenditures, there are also some signs that cash does not flow steadily in this business. "You seem to have ignored my previous e-mail, I am not happy and want some revenue in account," demands one client. "Everyone is getting their bit and I am owed £17k ffs."
He also pleads with one of his data suppliers to do some work for him, and quickly. "We need to run that data to maintain cashflow," he wrote. "Meanwhile, we have come under considerable pressure from [UK Internet provider] O2 to pay an outstanding invoice of £13,107.00 in respect of the supply of that data. As we have not been able to send any letters out we have not been able to collect any income from that data to meet ISP costs. This matter is very pressing as O2 have said that unless it is paid straight away they will release all their staff that they have retained to provide the data. This will have the effect of delaying very considerably the time for the provision of the finished data from the ISP. This will impact on al of us, most importantly for cashflow."
In an operation like this, the letters need to keep flowing out for the money to keep flowing in. As Crossley noted after seeing all the confusion among alleged infringers, "I have an idea. We should send a factsheet.... answering all the usual questions and dispelling some common misapprehensions as I think it will better inform people and increase revenue."
But that revenue comes from confused people like the accountant who wrote ACS Law, claiming utter bafflement and innocence. "Due to a lack of detail in your letter, I had to Google search the title to find information on what I'm being accused of downloading. I was astounded to find it to be PORN of pregnant women. Sick!"
"I am an Accountant who works normal office hours. There is NO CHANCE I would be at home downloading porn at 11:43 in the morning. Furthermore, on the date stipulated, I was in Brighton for the day with a client. I am the owner of my home, I live alone and have being doing so at the current address for the past 4 years. No-one has access to my property unless I'm present."
But the attitude at ACS Law is, as one legal advisor put it, "I sometimes think that we try to be too nice. That is not our purpose. If our clients want nice then they are likely to go to a priest or social worker."
So the Lords can say what they like, the consumer groups can rail, and Westminster can levy fines for trash in the streets, but the letters for Pump Fiction will continue.


text:
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
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|From Dublin
|To Dublin
Train Station(s)
Trains are a convenient way of reaching many towns and cities throughout Europe. The majority of cities in Europe have a minimum of one train station, while larger, more populated cities have two or more stations. Train stations, in general, are located in the heart of the city. Review the map below to get an idea of where the train station(s) in Cork can be found.
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Best Farmers' Markets around Bath, PA
Add an OrganizationRead More »Read More »Read More »Read More »Read More »Read More »Read More »
125th Street Fresh Connect Farmers' Market
163 West 125th StreetNew York, NY
12th And Brandywine Urban Farm Market
12th and Brandywine StreetsWilmington, DE
22nd And Tasker Farmers Market
22nd and Tasker StreetsPhiladelphia, PA
About Us:Established in 2010, this market is located in the Point Breeze neighborhood of South Philadelphia in front of Diversified Community Servi...Read More »
Bath Top Searches
29th And Wharton Farmers Market
29th and Wharton StreetsPhiladelphia, PA
About Us:Established in 2010, this market is located in the Grays Ferry neighborhood of Philadelphia in front of the eye-catching mural "The Peace ...Read More »
33rd And Diamond Farmers Market
33rd and Diamond StreetsPhiladelphia, PA
About Us:Established in 2011, this market is situated next to the Mander Playground in the neighborhood of Strawberry Mansion. With the strong supp...Read More »
52nd And Haverford Farmers Market
Haverford Avenue and North 52nd StreetPhiladelphia, PA
About Us:Established in 2005, this market is located in the Haddington neighborhood of Philadelphia. This market is very popular with the senior ci...Read More »
57th Street Greenmarket Saturday
W 57th St & 10th AveNew York, NY
Mission: Our mission is to improve New York City's quality of life through environmental programs that transform communities block by block and em...Read More »
58th And Chester Farmers Market
58th Street and Chester AvenuePhiladelphia, PA
About Us:Established in 2011, this market is located in Southwest Philadelphia next to FJ Meyers Recreation Center. Children from the rec center lo...Read More »
82nd Street Greenmarket
82nd Street between 1st and York AvenuesNew York, NY
On Saturdays year-round, a dedicated following of shoppers flock to the 82nd Street Greenmarket which wraps from a sidewalk into a church courtyard...Read More »
92nd Street Greenmarket
1st Avenue and East 92nd StreetNew York, NY
This seasonal Sunday market on the Upper East Side offers neighborhood residents a convenient location to shop for a selection of vegetables, fruit...Read More »
97th Street Greenmarket
97th Street between Columbus and Amsterdam AvenuesNew York, NY
One of the longest running year-round markets in the Greenmarket program, the 97th Street market has been serving the diverse population of the Upp...Read More »
Abingdon Square Greenmarket
Hudson Street and West 12th StreetNew York, NY
The Abingdon Square Greenmarket has brought local farms and farmers to Greenwich Village since 1994. Farmers rave that they are on a first na...Read More »
Abington Farmers Market
640 Northern BoulevardClarks Summit, PA
Added Value Farm Stand at Governors Island
Governors IslandBrooklyn, NY
Albee Square Farmers' Market
Corner of Fulton Street and Bond StreetBrooklyn, NY
Allendale Farmers' Market
500 West. Crescent AvenueAllendale, NJ
Market Hours:June 6th, 2015 - October 24th 2015Saturdays 9:30am - 2:30pmLocation: 500 West. Crescent AvenueRead More »
Allentown Fairgrounds Farmers Market
1825 West Chew StreetAllentown, PA
Mission: It may sound hokey, but we really do have a mission! The fact is, we care deeply about the health and welfare of our community. Without q...Read More »
Allentown Turnpike Service Plaza Farmers Market
Route 476, Northeast ExtensionAllentown, PA
Anselma Farmers and Artisans Market
1730 Conestoga RoadChester Springs, PA
Apple Blossom Village
690 Allegheny RoadMount Bethel, PA
Welcome to Apple Blossom Village. Located in Mount Bethel, Pennsylvania, Apple Blossom Village is a Family Fun Farm with so much to do! Our Petting...Read More »
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Glazed Corned Beef and Cabbage
My mother was a wonderful cook who inspired me to experiment with recipes. This unique recipe features a Dijon mustard glaze on the corned beef, and a tangy horseradish sauce with the cabbage and red potatoes. The meal receives raves every time I serve it.
Total TimePrep: 20 min. Cook: 2-1/2 hours
Makes6-8 servings
- 1 corned beef brisket with spice packet (2-1/2 pounds)
- 1 medium head cabbage, cut into wedges
- 1 pound small red potatoes, halved
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon thawed orange juice concentrate
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup butter, cubed
- 2 to 3 tablespoons prepared horseradish
- 2 tablespoons chopped green onion
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- Place brisket and contents of spice packet in a Dutch oven; cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 2-1/2 hours or until meat is tender.
- Place cabbage and potatoes in a steamer basket; place in a large saucepan over 1 in. of water. Bring to a boil; cover and steam for 25-30 minutes or until tender, adding more water to pan if necessary.
- Transfer the brisket to a broiler pan. Combine glaze ingredients; brush over beef. Broil 4-6 in. from the heat for 3-4 minutes or until beef is glazed. Thinly slice across the grain.
- In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine the sauce ingredients. Cover and microwave on high for 30-45 seconds or until butter is melted. Drizzle over cabbage and potatoes.


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Graduate Programs in Music Education
St. Thomas' Graduate Programs in Music Education exist to raise the standard of music teaching in the United States by promoting artistic, intelligent, reflective and inspired music teaching at all levels of music instruction. Our programs are designed for teachers by teachers in order to serve professional music educators who wish to strengthen their classroom teaching effectiveness by combining theoretical and applied study at a graduate level. Internationally recognized educators and musicians – many of whom teach in elementary and secondary schools – serve as faculty for our programs.
|M.A. in Music Education
|Certificate Programs


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I am not afraid to say it. President Obama has lost a few points of respect with me this week when he decided to join the five hosts of The View television show instead of talking to the 40,000 Boy Scout and leaders at the BSA National Jamboree.
I know, I know. Speaking at the National Jamboree is not in the President's job description. He only does it if he wants to do it, and if his schedule allows it. But you know, he accepted the position of the honorary president of the Boy Scouts of America. Why wouldn't he want to address the young men who are the future of our country. And do it live at the event?
I understand the Jamboree participants will watch a prerecorded message from President Obama. That is better than nothing. At least the Boy Scouts were worth his time to record a video.
I attended the 2001 National Jamboree. President Bush was scheduled to appear at a arena show to speak to us. Unfortunately, a storm went through the area and the show was postponed until the next evening. President Bush was not able to make it the following night so he recorded his message for us to watch on the big screens at the arena. (I personally did not mind watching the video. It saved us the time and trouble of going through presidential security.)
The difference between these two events was that President Bush made the effort to attend the Jamboree, where President Obama did not. It gives me the impression that he decided to sort of brush off the Boy Scouts.
Come on Mr. President! This is the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America. You had a captive audience of nearly 40,000 young men of every race and background, the future of this great country. This event was not something that just came up suddenly. The planning for this Jamboree was going on for years. You could not find the time in your schedule to address the Scouts?
Yet, you could find time in your schedule to appear on a national daily talk show, and do some fundraising. This gave me the impression that being a celebrity is more important to you then being a leader of this country. And I know I am not the only person to feel this way.
Mr. President, you could have taped your talk show interview at any time. You only have one week to speak to the young men at the 100th anniversary BSA National Jamboree. In my humble opinion, you blew it.
Of course, this is my opinion and not the opinion of the Boy Scouts of America. I realize that not everyone shares my point of view. I also realize that the President will probably never read this blog post. But this is something that has been weighing on my mind this week so I wanted to write about it.
How to you feel about the President skipping a live appearance at the National Jamboree? Please keep your comments civil or I will delete them.


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State and local authorities continue to investigate the death of an unidentified man in a Tuesday mobile home fire in the Southwest area where meth lab equipment was discovered.
Updated at 5:10 p.m.
State and local authorities continue to investigate the death of an unidentified man in a Tuesday mobile home fire in the Southwest area where meth lab equipment was discovered.
Firefighters with the Southwest Volunteer Fire Department responded at daybreak to a mobile home fire at 150 Creative Lane. A man�s body was found in the burned out hull of the trailer.
�Due to the badly burned body of the fire victim, identification will require the aid of medical record comparisons,� Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown said in a news release.
Since equipment to a single-bottle methamphetamine laboratory was found in the treeline close to the mobile home, authorities suspected a meth lab may have been involved in the fire.
A pair of agents from the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation arrived at the site later in the morning to assist the sheriff�s office and Onslow County Fire Marshall Brian Kelly in the investigation.
The cause of the fire remained undetermined at press time.
Friends and family members gathered at the scene said they believed it was their 32-year-old cousin who died in the fire. They declined to identify him.
Contact Daily News Senior Reporter Lindell Kay at 910-219-8455 or email@example.com. Follow him on Twitter and friend him on Facebook @ 1lindell.
Updated at 3:02 p.m. to include information from Brown and at 3:07 p.m. to include address and other responding agencies.
The official identification of a man who apparently died in a mobile home at 150 Creative Lane fire early this morning will have to wait for medical records due to the condition of the body, according to Sheriff Ed Brown.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Brown said. Meth lab equipment was found in the tree line near the residence.
Two SBI Agents, three Onslow County Sheriff�s Office detectives and narcotic�s officers, and the Onslow County Fire Marshal were also called to the scene. --
Authorities are investigating a fatal fire in the Southwest area.
One person is dead after a Tuesday morning house fire on Creative Lane off of N.C. 53, said Onslow County Sheriff Ed Brown. The identity of the decedent has not been released.
Onslow County Fire Marshal Brian Kelly is investigating the blaze with the assistance of detectives with the Sheriff's Office and agents with the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation.


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(2/25/11) Oakley, California. Today the dynamic new series designed specifically to protect children from predators was pre-launched before the media, with the official launching date to be March 1st. Immediately after the website opened, hundreds of people signed on.
The Hunted Child is a shocking but informative new video series. Child abduction and rape has become epidemic throughout the world and even though predators have been incarcerated, placed under psychological and psychiatric care, once released they go right back to repeat their crimes.
According to Jerry Hanoum who spoke at the news conference, each pedophile, according to statistics, has molested at least 120 children before caught, and goes on to repeat that behavior when released. No private or government program has been able to provide an effective solution or program to put a stop to these criminal sexual acts. That is until the launching of The Hunted Child Video Series with the goal of bringing a bill to Congress titled, The Mark for Mark Act.
With the passing of this bill, every person who has been convicted of harming a child will be required to have a Mark on his or her name and/or body, to identify that individual as a danger to children. An abused child carries a Mark on his or her life forever. It is time to put a Mark on those who have Marked our children.
Pro-family activism is changing policy and influencing decisions from school boards all the way to the US Congress. CLICK HERE and join us today!
Welcome to our website!
You have come to the home of one of the largest conservative grassroots political organizations in America.
Christian Coalition of America offers people of faith the vehicle to be actively involved in impacting the issues they care about - from the county courthouse to the halls of Congress.... (READ MORE)
© 2020 - Copyright - All Rights Reserved - Christian Coalition of America - Roberta Combs, President - PO Box 37030 Washington, DC 20013 - 202-479-6900


text: Is there anyplace else in the world other than California and a few near-by areas that a (IMHO) very special cut of meat called a "tritip"? I know for a fact that anyplace east of the Mississippi river, it is largely unheard of. I wondered where else it is equally unknown...I was cooking up one of these beauties on the grill tonight for a treat for dinner and was being glad that I knew of the cut and knew how to prepare it. If you have not had this before, imagine the tenderest, most succulent and juicy steak you have ever had, done to perfection...only this is the size of a small roast. In my case I have developed a special Hawaiian teriyaki sauce I use to marinade and later baste the meat as it is grilling. When done, it has a sweet yet spicy crust on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside. I slice it up at a 45 degree angle into paper-thin slices. This stuff in the bomb.


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We now have a forum, thanks to the great and generous people at Comic Genesis! Hmm, I suppose we need rules and things, but seeing as we just started, I'll sort of be adding them as needed. Just be considerate of others.
Feel free to make new topics and discuss to your heart's content! And welcome!


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Train Dijon → Marseille
Duration 3h21 - From NZ$35
- Departure station : Dijon ville (31, cours de la gare 21000 Dijon)
- Arrival station : Marseille st char (Square Narvik 12232 Marseille cedex 1)
Dijon, the capital of Burgundy
Dijon, the capital of the Burgundy Dijon is a town located in Burgundy region and home to more than 150,000 inhabitants. The town is probably most famous for its mustard. With an exceptional architectural heritage, the city of Dijon has 97 hectares of remarkably preserved monuments. Dijon is the gateway to the world renowned Côte de Nuits vineyards. Visitors can choose a guided tour to the vineyards and enjoy a glass of excellent wine in Marsannay-la-Côte, Gevrey-Chambertin, Vosne-Romanée or Nuits-Saint-Georges. Don't forget to look out for the lucky charm of Dijon: the particularly worn-out little Chouette, which fulfills the wish of those who touch it with a left hand stroke. Dijon is conveniently found on the Rhin-Rhône high speed railway line, making it easily reachable from Paris in approximately 1h35 and from Basel (Switzerland) in 2h10 by train. Learn more about Dijon
Marseille, the oldest city of France
Marseille, the capital of Provence region Marseille is the oldest French city and the second most important city in France after Paris. Marseille is located on the southeast coast of France in the Provence region. The city is known for its harbour, sunny climate and beautiful coastline. The natural beauty of Marseille is reflected by its parks and calanques. This explains why Marseille has retained a particular village feel. From the historic Panier district to the Romanesque churches, the city is full of treasures. The famous Notre Dame de la Garde, which overlooks the city from the top of a hill, is not be missed. Learn more about Marseille
Book your journey from Dijon to Marseille From NZ$35 NZ$100
Practical information
Reviews & ratings
Overall appreciation
"It was a pleasant trip from Paris to Dijon by TGV, train was nice, clean and punctual! I am impressed, it is such a great way to travel in France. Australia...please learn something from France! "


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Frank & Oak Raises $5 Million for Second Attempt at Men's Clothing Site
Frank & Oak, an online membership site for men that offers a selection of clothes every month, has raised $5 million. The first round was led by Lightbank, the VC firm started by Groupon co-founders Eric Lefkofsky and Brad Keywell. Other investors include BDM, Rho Ventures Canada and Real Ventures. The business derives from a now-defunct company called Modasuite, which was started two years ago and provided custom clothing for men.


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12 Years being Full of I.T.
That's right! This blog is 12 years old today! Yep. 12 years ago today I entered my very first blog post. And in the years that followed, it was a pleasure to bring the latest-news, technical resources, and sometimes just silly tech stuff to your browser of choice. I know I haven't been around much… Read more
- Categories: Blogging, Career, Fun Stuff, Geeky-Cool, Humor, IT Pro Resources
- Tags: Blogging, Fun Stuff, Geeky-Cool, Humor, IT Pro Resources


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I hope not. It's just that learning Dharma is probably less a priority for Candice O'Denver (or her org) than policing her google results when it comes to her online activities. Business is business.gregkavarnos wrote:Oooooooooohhh... Did i just detect a nasty underhanded swipe?
Case in point: if she regularly checked DharmaWheel, don't you think she's have chimed in by now in one way or another?


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Alisonpaints necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 79 diseños de 15 diseñadores freelance.
Healing Into Possibility
Please see http://www.healingintopossibility.com It tells a lot about me and who I am and what I do and the book I wrote. I am changing the design of the site to create a new home page to feature me and the speaking I do.
I do motivational speaking. I had a two major strokes, was profoundly disabled and made an almost total, and absolutely remarkable recovery. I have written the book you will see on the site, made a video that is being used world wide and am now ready to promote the speaking I do. The message of what I teach goes way beyond stroke. It can be used to face any kind of major challenge. I motivate stroke survivors and their care networks and people with many other kinds of injuries. I motivate business people. I am a business consultant and use the lessons all the time.
Here is a short YouTube video I made about one of the major lessons that might be helpful http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiqNo1viwi4
I also write a regular blog for Psychology Today
There is more bio information about me on the website.
This message goes to stroke survivors, their family members, care providers of all kinds, breast cancer survivors, really anyone facing a major challenge. I will be featured on this website. http://www.thestrokefoundation.com/news.php for instance.
You can see that there is lots of competition for books and ideas. I need to stand out.
These kind of messages also appeal to people scheduling talks for businesses since the transforming challenges messages works well for them and they look for alternative ways to view problems.
I have a facebook business page on this and am being promoted on twitter.
The big video that has gone worldwide is also up on YouTube
This is primarily a consumer market. It's application into institutions will come from individuals.
I want the logo to work with the title of the book and the color scheme on the website and book. It can incorporate the words "Healing into Possibility" or it can stand beside the title. As you can see from the website the images have come from flowers emerging from the snow. I don't want anything sentimental. This is not a sentimental enterprise, but I have had good reaction from people to the image on the book cover. Something that incorporated an element of this idea in a clean and truly creative way might be very interesting, but I am open to whatever is powerful, interesting and sharp that gets across the idea of transformation.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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Business & Corporate Services
License a business; search registered corporations; Search & File UCC's; File annual reports; Request criminal history reports; and more employer services.
Cities & Counties
Find City, Town and County Information
File a consumer complaint regarding credit, insurance, banking, securities, public utilities or a licensed professional.
Search school profiles, library catalogs, and state archives record.
Ask a Librarian, find educational online games and more.
Local School Directory
Employers & Employment
Apply for unemployment insurance, search for jobs, find economic statistics and more.
Get weather forecasts, air quality conditions, oil spill reports, and more.
Family & Community
Find apple orchards and farmers markets, order birth/death certificates, license your dog, stop telemarketing calls, search for housing, search the sex offender database, and more.
Game Warden Service
Through education, community involvement, professional law enforcement and search and rescue practices, they serve and protect the public while conserving Maine's fish, wildlife and other natural resources.
Find your elected officials, search Maine laws, check bill status, listen to audio from State legislature, and more.
Greater Portland Council of Governments (GPCOG)
Founded in 1969, the Greater Portland Council of Governments (GPCOG) is a voluntary non-profit organization with a distinguished history of service to the municipalities and public service agencies of the Greater Portland (Maine) region. GPCOG's members include 25 municipalities.
Annual Reports
Health & Safety
Find a doctor, search sex offender database, report a crime, order water test kits, order criminal history report and more.
History, Statistics and Records
Search state archive records, order birth/death certificates, search health statistics and more.
Income Taxes and refund programs
File taxes online, check refund status and more.
Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IF&W)
Law enforcement & courts
Search sex offender database, order criminal history reports, pay traffic tickets, search court opinions and more.
Licenses & Permits
Renew driver's license, buy hunting/fishing licenses, renew professional licenses, order burning permit, and more.
Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Program
A low interest loan program administered by Effiecency Maine that allows for property owners to make energy/heating improvements to their homes. Raymond adopted the PACE Ordinance in June, 2012 and can be found in the miscellaneous ordinances.
Portland Area Comprehensive Transportation System (PACTS)
Find community events, register your ATV/snowmobile, buy hunting/fishing licenses, reserve a campsite, search State parks and more.
Shopping/Online Stores
Buy Maine goods online, shop the Fish & Wildlife Store, find Maine agricultural products and more.
State Fire Marshal's Office
The mission of the Office of State Fire Marshal is to prevent loss of life and property for those that live, work and visit in the State of Maine. Our goal is to protect against the devastation of fire, explosions and life safety hazards with integrity and fairness through fire prevention, public education, planning, research, investigation and enforcement of enacted laws and rules.
Local Dispatch: 657-3030
Arson Hotline: 1-888-870-6162
Travel & Tourism
Find community events and fairs, search restaurants, get road conditions/travels alerts, and more.
Vehicles and Transportation
Renew your vehicle registration or driver's license, find current road conditions, buy vanity plates, order crash reports, pay traffic tickets, and more.
Voting & Elections
Find your polling place, elected officials and candidates on the ballot, request an absentee ballot, and more.


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Harvick Says NASCAR Pulling For Danica
By Mike Harris | Senior Writer
Concord, N.C. – Not surprisingly, one recurring question at the annual NASCAR Media Tour sponsored by Charlotte Motor Speedway is: How do you think Danica Patrick will do in stock cars?
A little over a week ago, former driver turned TV analyst Kyle Petty warned that Patrick's chances of success are not great, considering she has had less on-track success than other open-wheel drivers who have attempted and struggled in making the transition to NASCAR.
The Izod IndyCar Series star, who will drive a Chevrolet for JR Motorsports, is scheduled to make her stock car debut in the ARCA race at Daytona early next month. She will then begin her Nationwide Series career the week after the Daytona 500 at Auto Club Speedway in California.
Petty called Patrick a `"marketing machine" and added, "If she gets in that car and doesn't win races it's not the car, it's not the engines, it's not the team. They only changed one thing. Initially, she'll have an impact on the sport. If she's successful, she'll have a huge long-term impact on the sport.
"But if she's not successful the only impact she'll have on the sport is she wasted two or three years on a car that a good driver could have been in and could have been developing."
Asked the same question Tuesday, Sprint Cup star Kevin Harvick had a very different answer.
"Danica is a great person,'' the Richard Childress Racing driver said. "She's very motivated. She's in very good shape. She's very prepared for what's coming – what she thinks is coming anyway. Obviously, there will be a lot of things for her to experience the first time. She'll be under a lot of scrutiny.
"There's going to be some major bumps in the road. She's obviously very good at dealing with the media part of it, but this is going to be something where there's not 11 or 12 competitive cars, there's going to be 30. It's going to be very hard and I think she understands that.''
Harvick said that almost everyone in NASCAR welcomes Patrick, who will do her stock car apprenticeship before and after the IndyCar season that begins in mid-March and ends in early October.
"She's very good for our sport and I think everybody understands that she's going to be good for our sport,'' Harvick said.
"Daytona (ARCA) is going to be a different animal,'' he added. "That should be a great area for her to be successful in the beginning. It's when you get to the Californias and you get to the different types of race tracks, the downforce tracks, that it's going to be very complicated to grasp everything that's coming at you with a new racetrack, a new car and no testing.
"You can test all you want at other race tracks, but when you get an hour and a half or two hours of practice and then they drop the green flag and you're three wide going into turn one, that's when it becomes real.''
With all that pressure and such a big learning curve to face, Harvick said he believes Patrick will succeed.
"I don't think the competitiveness of the cars is going to be a problem,'' he noted. "It's going to be about her getting seat time. But I think the guys who know anything about the sport want to help her, want to see her be successful because we all know that she's very good for NASCAR.
"She's very good because it brings more fan base to our sport. She's obviously going to bring in new sponsors and she's going to bring things that are different than what we've had here before.
"We've never had a female, in my era, that's been competitive,'' Harvick added. "Most of them have just been here because they're female. I think Danica's the first real female race car driver that's coming in here. I'm not saying she's going to be competitive overnight, but she's the first one that's got any sort of credentials that should be racing cars.''
– Mike Harris can be reached at email@example.com Comments


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Kinston woman is opera star
Jill Elizabeth Broadway of Elkton, Md., is a full lyric soprano who got her start in Kinston.
While attending Kinston High School, she starred in numerous plays in Kinston under the direction of Kenneth Ginn and the late Oran Perry. She since has starred in such operas as �Suor Genovieffa,� �Le Nozze di Figaro,� �Die Zauberflote,� �Street Scenes� and Opera Seabrook�s �Carmen.� In August 2012, she played the female lead of Desdemona in Giuseppe Verdi�s �Otello,� based on the play �Othello� by Shakespeare. She starred with Richard Nicosia, a spinto tenor who played the role of Otello.
Broadway holds a Bachelor of Science degree in music from ECU and a master�s degree in vocal performance from the University of Delaware.
The full lyric soprano has studied under the instruction of Robert McFarlane, international dramatic baritone. At the close of �Otello,� she was invited to go to New York to audition for another opera.
In Elkton, Md., she teaches opera at the Christina Cultural Arts Center, and teaches private lessons in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. She also sings with the Opus 1 Vocal Jazz Ensemble, Trinity Episcopal Church and other churches as her time permits.
Broadway is the daughter of Murrell and Joan Rice Broadway of Kinston, and is the granddaughter of the late Rev. and Mrs. Clifton Taylor Rice and the late Mr. and Mrs. William D. Broadway, all of whom lived in Kinston.
AARP gets Woodmen update
Donald Joyner is working at the Woodmen Community Center in the new membership area. He informed the AARP chapter recently about many of the features of the facility and a breakdown of membership cost.
The Center has a variety of exercise equipment, two basketball courts, a walking track and other areas. He also talked about the Water Park area with its two swimming pools, two big slides, lazy river and other features. For members, use of the Water Park is free.
For more information about the Woodmen Center, call Joyner at 252-939-1330. For AARP information, call Gene Rybolt, chapter coordinator, at 252-523-0988.


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Skin blushing or flushing is a sudden reddening of the face, neck, or upper chest.
Blushing; Flushing; Red face
Blushing is a normal body response that may occur when you are embarrassed, angry, excited, or experiencing another strong emotion.
Flushing of the face may also be associated with certain medical conditions.
Common causes include:
Other causes include:
Try to avoid the things that cause your blushing. For example, you may need to avoid hot drinks, spicy foods, extreme temperatures, or bright sunlight.
Call your health care provider if you have persistent flushing, particularly if you have other symptoms (such as diarrhea).
Your health care provider will perform a physical exam and may ask about your medical history and symptoms, including:
Powell FC, Raghallaigh SN. Rosacea and related disorders. In: Bolognia JL, Jorizzo JL, Schaffer JV, eds. Dermatology. 3rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Elsevier Saunders; 2012:chap 37.
This page was last updated on: 1/29/2019 3:21:13 PM


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With offer for extra parcel, forgoing broker plan for now
The School Board will temporarily forgo plans to enlist a broker to sell district-owned property that could provide critical revenue for a district saddled with spending fines handed down by state auditors last month.
And they are poised to move forward in February with property sales that would make up an additional $4 million needed to balance the budget after other costs were realized by school officials in the fall.
Blackrock Development Holdings has offered the school district $1.85 million for a State Road 70 parcel that is valued at $1.78 million. But the company will pay the district $2.7 million if they also sell part of a Bayshore High School parcel at the corner of 53rd Avenue West and 34th Street West.
Combined with the $1.4 million Checkers-Owens Annex property sale — land sold next to the district administration building in a deal with Route 32 Investments that closed today — the larger offer would help the district exceed its $4 million shortfall.
"It comes down to timing, exposure, getting the best price and making sure we meet our commitment to the state in meeting our budget," Board Chair Julie Aranibar said before the board gave school officials the okay to approve the Bayshore parcel for sale and move forward with the $2.7 million offer at a February meeting.
The only other pending offer for the State Road 70 parcel is a $1.3 million bid from Del Lago Ventures. But the company only wants to purchase 2.4 acres of 10 acres cleared for sale at the intersection of State Road 70 and Caruso Road.
Construction Services Director Jane Dreger said the board's decision is a smart one, as the Bayshore High School parcel would likely need to go through lengthy rezoning processes that might turn off other buyers.
And Blackrock Development Holdings has agreed to close both of their offers within 90 days, which means that the sale could go through by late May, ahead of the end of the fiscal year.
Deputy Superintendent Don Hall reminded board members that subsidizing $4 million of costs before the end of the year is necessary for the district's financial stability.
The costs, announced in October after the year's budget had been approved, included a need for more staff, including aides for special needs children that are required by law and more teachers for oversized VPK classes.
The district had also failed to budget for the salaries of teachers displaced by the closing of Central High School.
The $4 million shortfall isn't the only expense the district will have to address before July.
The school system here is being closely monitored by the state as it cleans up systematic financial errors that could potentially cost the district $10 million for questionable spending identified by state auditors.
The district will have to negotiate with state officials this spring, talking down total costs or receiving permission to defer fines to future years. If the district has to pay back $10 million, than a previous plan to have $10.3 million in district savings would fail.
"Our compliance to our recovery plan is going to be critical," said Aranibar, who traveled this week to Tallahassee with a school district team to meet with the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee.
Though state officials were impressed with district action plans, Aranibar said it was made clear that if the district did not take "sincere steps" to balance its budget, than the state would not be inclined to relieve some of the financial burden from the audits.
The district tentatively plans to surplus the Bayshore High School parcel and vote on the Blackrock Development Holdings contract at the February 11 meeting.


text:
But when L wants to draw, she's afraid to try. "I'll mess it up! It won't look right."
Because honestly, drawings that don't look right, can still be full of so many good things that are so easily lost when you are pursuing a correct drawing.
|Top: Mommy and Daddy
kissing at their wedding
Bottom: Untitled
So what can you do?
I don't know if this is the right way to approach this only-sort-of-important-(but-really-maybe-very-important) matter of creativity to my kids. I was an art major, but I skipped all the art for children classes, so seriously - I don't know how to teach. But here's what I'm doing:
I made L a little art book with few words, and step by step pictures of how to draw basic things: a house, a dog, a bird, a girl, a giraffe, etc. I tried to keep the drawings simple and not at all fancy. I am hoping she'll see that simple shapes go together to make pictures, and that if she can draw these simple shapes (and she can), she can draw anything.
The book is more of a reference than a coloring book, so I also made her a blank book to go with it. I showed her how to follow the steps first, but then she did most of these drawings by herself while I chased her sister around the room. She added stairs to her house (so you can get from the door to the window), and connected the sidewalk to the road. She really took it as a prompt, and then didn't worry that it looked a little different from the book, which made me really proud (relieved). So far, I'd say it's going pretty well.
So tell me, (seriously, tell me!) are your kids afraid to draw?
How do you encourage pressure-free creativity?
Check out my book Let's Draw, and tell me if your kids like it.
You can find this book in the shop.
Stay tuned for a post on how I assemble my books. I appreciate your comments!
I've started sketching a few more drawing books to come over the next few weeks. Some animals, dinosaurs, and silly faces. Let me know if you have any requests!


text: 580 Sutton Bridge Road Rainbow City, AL 35906 $129,900 STATUS: Active ON SITE: 86 days MLS #: 1138895 UPDATED: 81 min ago Add this property to your favorites Tour in Person Share Email this listing Share on Pinterest Share on Google+ Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this listing Map Like What You See? Tour in Person Tour via Video Chat $129,900 0 BEDS N/A ACRES 0 BATHS 0 1/2 BATHS Type: Commercial County: Etowah Area: Etowah School Ratings & Info Visit GreatSchools.org Monthly Payment Calculator © 2020 NALMLS, Inc. All information provided is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed accurate by the MLS or Revolved Realty Madison and should be independently verified. Listings marked with the NALMLS logo are provided courtesy of the North Alabama Real Estate Information Service, Inc. (NALMLS) IDX Database. IDX information is provided exclusively for consumers' personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing. Data last updated 2020-06-04T00:27:07.4.


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work experience, a graduate scheme is a great opportunity to start building your career. Such a graduate scheme programme usually lasts one or even two years and will involve a series of placements and rotations within the company, giving you the chance to explore which direction you might want to pursue in your future career. And just between us, employers use graduate schemes for finding and recruiting the future managers within the business.
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text:
A pregnant woman and her family were hospitalized this week after eating steak bought from a Wal-Mart that local authorities believed was laced with the hallucinogenic drug LSD, according to the medical examiner's initial test results.
A blue balloon announcing "Baby Boy" fluttered on Saturday outside the home where the family has since returned after Jessica Rosado, who was nine months pregnant when she arrived at the hospital near her home in Tampa, gave birth after having labor induced.
Rosado, her partner Ronnie Morales and her two young daughters fell ill on Monday evening after eating some bottom round steak bought from a local Wal-Mart, according to the Tampa Police Department.
It was the first meal they had cooked in their new home having moved in two days earlier, police said.
Morales was the first to feel sick, and Rosado drove him and her daughters to St Joseph's Hospital after calling 911. He arrived hallucinating and feeling dizzy and short of breath.
Rosado then began displaying the same symptoms, and was taken to a hospital across the street where labor was induced and her baby delivered. The two daughters, ages 6 and 7, were sickened a little later that evening.
Police took samples of the food the family had been eating from the home. The Hillsborough County medical examiner's office told police on Friday that the steak was contaminated, and that tests showed the presence of lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD, police said.
Police also took the family's oven away for testing. Results from toxicology tests on blood samples taken from the family may take another three weeks, police said.
"There was enough of some type of substance to make all four members of that family gravely ill," Jane Castor, Tampa's police chief, told a press conference on Friday. "The family has no idea where this may have come from."
She said that police had taken all the other bottom round steaks from the Wal-Mart for testing but that this was believed to be an isolated case, and that it was not clear whether a crime had been committed.
LSD is a fragile chemical, and can quickly degrade even at room temperature or when exposed to light. If the test results are correct, it remained unclear how a steak might be dosed with LSD in a way that it could retain its potency even when cooked.
Police said they were still investigating how or why a steak might end up contaminated in this way.
Wal-Mart said it was cooperating with the investigation by police and both federal and state agricultural officials. A spokeswoman pointed out that Wal-Mart receives its meat already prepared and packaged from suppliers, and it was unclear at what point contamination might have taken place.
Morales and the daughters were released from the hospital on Wednesday, and Rosado and her newborn son, whom police described as healthy, were released on Thursday.
"We're just very grateful that the family appears to be OK," Dianna Gee, the Wal-Mart spokeswoman, said.
(Writing by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Marguerita Choy)


text:
Many cancers and other diseases are caused by genomic mutations such as alterations in DNA copy number (DCN), the number of copies of a DNA segment at a specific location in the genome. DCN alterations, such as deletion of tumor suppressor genes or amplification of oncogenes, can cause cancer.
Comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) is a technology that identifies and maps changes in DCN on a genome-wide scale. In recent years, CGH has been adapted to the microarray platform because array-based CGH (aCGH) provides higher genomic resolution and higher throughput quantitative measurements of DCN aberrations.
Analyzing large-scale, high-throughput aCGH data is vital to detecting DCN aberrations. In noisy signal data, however, it can be statistically challenging to determine the location on the genome of changes in DCN (change point), the length of a region of changed DCN, and the magnitude of a change in DCN.
Using whole-genome DCN profiles from several cancer studies as examples, this article describes automated methods for visualizing and analyzing aCGH data using MATLAB® and related toolboxes.
Array-Based CGH Data
In array-based CGH (aCGH), test and reference genomes are co-hybridized to a microarray chip containing thousands of targets, such as oligonucleotide probes, cDNA, or genomic clones of bacterial artificial chromosomes (BAC). The test and reference genomes are labeled with different colored fluorescent tags. Measuring the relative fluorescence intensities across the genome indicates areas of DCN gains or losses.
Array-based CGH data consists of log2 transformed fluorescence intensity ratios, which are proportional to the copy numbers. DNA from a test sample, such as a tumor, and a reference sample from a nontumorous sample are labeled with fluorescent dyes and hybridized to a microarray chip, which represents a map of the whole genome. The intensity ratio of the test signal to the reference signal, determined at each position along the genome, indicates the DCN of the test genome as compared to a reference genome. Figure 1 shows an aCGH whole-genome profile with instances of copy number gains and losses.
Data Analysis Steps
We will demonstrate the data analysis and visualization process using data from the Coriell cell line study (Snijders et al., 2001), which includes data from samples with known DCN changes.
Focusing on individual samples, we begin by identifying regions in each chromosome that have DCN changes. We preprocess the data using median filter and wavelet denoising techniques. We then determine DCN segments using Gaussian mixture models combined with statistical tests. We will use Bioinformatics Toolbox™ functions to visualize the results and perform two widely accepted segmentation methods to identify regions in each chromosome that have DCN changes: circular binary segmentation (CBS) and hidden Markov models (HMM).
Reading and Inspecting Signal Data
We use Microsoft® Excel® formatted data tables containing normalized signal data from the Coriell cell line BAC array CGH data set. Generally regarded as a "gold standard," this data set includes 15 tumorous samples. The actual DCN changes are known for these samples.
After reading the data tables into MATLAB, we create a MATLAB structure containing, for each sample, the chromosome number, the genomic position, and the log2 ratio for each of the 2285 clones (DNA targets on a microarray chip), mapped across the whole genome. The Log2Ratio field contains a matrix of log2 ratios of the intensities, with each row corresponding to a clone and each column corresponding to a sample.
coriell_data = Sample: {1x15 cell} Chromosome: [2285x1 int8] GenomicPosition: [2285x1 int32] Log2Ratio: [2285x15 double]
We use the MATLAB
subplot function to visualize the whole-genome aCGH profile for all chromosomes in one of the 15 samples (Figure 2). The plots of chromosomes 10 and 11 show the characteristics of aCGH data, such as the discrete gains and losses of copy number and the alterations occurring in contiguous regions of a chromosome.
Smoothing Data and Estimating Change Points
Like most signal processing data, aCGH copy number data contains noise, a result of the complex process used in microarray experiments. We want to smooth the data to reduce the noise while preserving the true changes in DCN. Doing so will enable us to estimate the change points along a chromosome by directly measuring the differences in the mean of the DCN between adjacent segments.
A simple approach is to use MATLAB and Signal Processing Toolbox™ to perform high-level smoothing using a median filter before measuring the differences. The median filter removes outliers while preserving sustained changes in the input data. We use the median filter available in the
medfilt1 function of Signal Processing Toolbox to smooth the log2 ratio data. When the first-order derivative of the smoothed ratio rises above a certain threshold, we take this to indicate the presence of a change point.
% Apply a median filter with a window size of 21 GM05296_Data(i).SmoothedRatio =
medfilt1(GM05296_Data(i).Log2Ratio, 21);
Figure 3 displays the median-filtered data and its first-order derivative along chromosome 10 of sample GM05296.
As an alternative approach, wavelet algorithms can be applied to signal data such as DCN data for denoising and change-point identification because wavelets handle abrupt changes better than other spatially adaptive methods. Figure 4 shows an example of applying the 1-D stationary wavelet transform denoising tool, available in Wavelet Toolbox™, to the DCN of chromosome 10 in sample GM05296.
Optimizing Change-Point Detection Using Gaussian Mixture Models
Because knowing the exact location of a change point on a chromosome can be crucial to treating the related disease, we fine-tune the estimation to yield statistically optimal change points. Gaussian mixture (GM) models can validate the change points estimated from the previous detection schemes by comparing the normal distributions on each side of an identified change point. To facilitate this process, we surround each change point with a set of equal-length adjacent clones. As a result, each change point is associated with left and right distributions.
The GM clustering learns the parameters of the two distributions using an expectation maximization (EM) algorithm and optimally adjusts the indices given the learned parameters. We can then use the Statistics and Machine Learning Toolbox™
gmdistribution function to eliminate false change points and ensure that the remaining change point boundaries separate chromosomal regions of different copy number.
% Determine a set of adjacent positions distributed around a change point
% with a selected length.
leftIndices = min(ChangePointIdx(j)-length, ChangePointIdx(j));
rightIndices = max(ChangePointIdx(j)+length, ChangePointIdx(j));
gmy = GM05296_Data(i).SmoothedRatio(leftIndices:rightIndices);
% Select initial guess for the distribution.
gmpart = (gmy > (min(gmy) + range(gmy)/2)) + 1;
% Create a Gaussian mixture model object
gm = gmdistribution.fit(gmy, 2, 'start', gmpart);
gmid = gm.cluster(gmy);
ChangePointIdx (j) = find(abs(diff(gmid))==1) + leftIndices;
% Remove repeat indices
zeroidx = [diff(ChangePointIdx) == 0; 0];
GM05296_Data(i).ChangePointIdx = ChangePointIdx(~zeroidx);
Once we have used the GM model to determine the boundaries between segments of different copy numbers on a chromosome, we use a permutation t-test to determine whether the changes in DNA copy number between adjacent segments are statistically significant. For example, a p-value at or below 0.01 provides strong evidence that the mean values of two consecutive segments are different. We remove any change points with a p-value greater than the predetermined significance level.
The detailed MATLAB analysis of the Coriell cell line study is available in a demonstration provided with Bioinformatics Toolbox™.
Evaluating and Visualizing the Results
By smoothing the data using either median filters or wavelets and then using GM models to optimize change point detection, we have identified all the known changes confirmed by Snijders et al. (2001), including the gain on chromosome 10 and the loss on chromosome 11 in sample GM05296 (Figure 5). We can now visualize the locations of the DCN aberrations. To aid in visualization, we use the Bioinformatics Toolbox
chromosomeplot function to append the chromosome ideograms for chromosome 10 and 11 to their respective aCGH profiles.
We also use the
chromosomeplot function to display the genome-wide DCN alterations aligned to the chromosomes in an ideogram (Figure 6).
Using Circular Binary Segmentation and Bayesian HMM to Segment and Visualize Data
Previously, we applied a broad range of functions from MATLAB and related toolboxes to smooth, denoise, and segment aCGH data. However, many other algorithms are used for aCGH data analysis, for instance, the circular binary segmentation (CBS) algorithm and hidden Markov models (HMM).
Bioinformatics Toolbox provides a function based on the widely used recursive CBS algorithm using a permutation reference distribution developed by Olshen et al. (2004). The
cghcbs function implements the CBS algorithm and returns the boundaries and means of the segments found. The clones within a segment are assumed to share the same copy number. Figure 7 shows the whole-genome aCGH profile of a pancreatic adenocarcinoma sample with segmented data computed using the
cghcbs function.
Hidden Markov models (HMM) can simultaneously segment and classify signal data such as aCGH data. Bioinformatics Toolbox provides a demonstration for analyzing the pancreatic adenocarcinoma data using the Bayesian four-state HMM proposed by Guha et al. (2006). In this model, the states include copy number loss, copy number neutral, single copy number gain, and multiple copy number gain. The informative priors enable Bayesian learning from the data. Posterior inferences are made about gains and losses in copy number. Because the posterior distribution is analytically intractable, Guha et al. also proposed a Metropolis-within-Gibbs algorithm to generate a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sample for simulation-based inference of the chromosomal parameters. Figure 8 shows the HMM states found on chromosome 12 of the PA.C.Dan.G sample in the pancreatic adenocarcinoma data.
The generated states are inspected and classified as focal aberrations, transition points, amplifications, outliers, and whole chromosomal changes (Figure 9).
With the rapid accumulation of large-scale, high-throughput aCGH data, DCN data analysis will remain a very active area. This article showed how to use Signal Processing Toolbox and Wavelet Toolbox for smoothing and denoising aCGH data. We also showed an approach to detect the change points using functions in Statistics and Machine Learning Toolbox, and briefly described functions for segmentation, classification, and visualization of the aCGH data that are available in Bioinformatics Toolbox.
MATLAB and its toolboxes provide a wide variety of methods for analyzing and visualizing aCGH data, making it a valuable environment for researching diseases related to genomic mutations.
Download the data set containing BAC aCGH profiles of Coriell cell lines by Snijders et al. (2001)
Download the data set containing aCGH profiles of pancreatic cancer samples and specimens by Alguirre et al. (2004)


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As a gay person, people have asked me on more than one occasion if I'm an atheist because I am gay.
My answer is no. Social position does nothing to raise the truth value of a claim, only certain people's tendencies to believe it. At best my sexuality only kept me from being unduly interested in becoming religious.
What are other perspectives? Does the church's view on sex/uality affect other people's religiosity?
Views: 136
I remember reading a few years ago that gays are more religious than people think. Even I, a lesbian, was pretty surprised by this. I figured, surely, gays and lesbians would reject religion because very few religions are tolerant of homosexuality. I can't think of any that are accepting.
Sure there are millions of Christians who are pro-gays rights and do not see homosexuality as morally wrong BUT officially, Christianity is not gay-friendly.
I've always been a skeptic but I did walk away from the church partly due to my sexuality. I left my church right when they were about to start the "sexual purity" series for the teens. Around that time I thought I was bisexual and I didn't feel like being attacked. I also knew I wouldn't be accepted at this particular church if I was honest about my sexuality.
I have also had people ask me if I'm an atheist because I'm gay. I'm an atheist because there has been no convincing evidence to prove an invisible deity; I just so happen to be a lesbian as well.
Wicca, from what I've heard/researched, is accepting of homosexuality (and of sexuality in itself).


text:
Scientists have discovered an unexpected fact about bird flu: It might be a sexually-transmitted disease, at least in ducks. And, just as unexpectedly, the key to transmission may be all about penis size and vagina "complexity."
New Scientist reports on new research carried out by a team at Budapest's Eötvös Loránd University, which crossreferenced the love lives of ducks with outbreaks of bird flu, and found something surprising:
When the researchers compared data on the prevalence of low-pathogenic bird flu strains in different duck species with what is known about the anatomy of duck reproductive parts and mating behaviour, they found that ducks with the smallest penises and tamest sex lives had the highest flu levels.
"This is intriguing and a bit counter-intuitive because a long phallus prolongs copulation, and forced copulations characteristic to species with a large phallus should further promote virus transfer," says [head researcher Gergely] Hegyi.
The reason behind this may come from the evolutionary process of female ducks, according to Hegyi:
Long and elaborate vaginas may hinder unwanted fertilisation but may also make it difficult for viruses acquired during copulation to reach the site of egg formation.
With this new information known, two new questions arise: Will this help scientists track the progress of avian flu, and perhaps more immediately, how quickly will someone come up with a joke about birdfucking?
First evidence that bird flu is spread sexually [New Scientist]


text:
MDC(Milano Design City) is a planned new city, which will be located east of Incheon International Airport.
This Exhibition hall is built to memorialize this fact, and hold a exhibition on design of Milano and Leonardo da vinci. For more information, refer to http://www.milanodesigncity.net/english/exhibition.htm
Korea is one of the oldest continuous civilizations in the world with over five thousand years of history. According to the original creation myth, the world we live in today is the work of the Heavenly Prince Hwanung, whose father was the King of Heaven.The Heavenly Prince asked his father to give him some land to govern, so the Father sent him down to Mount Taebaek. With him the Prince brought the Minister of Clouds, the Earl of Rain and the Chancellor of Wind. They also brought three thousand helpers.Under the shade of a sandalwood tree the Prince founded a holy city called Sinsi, the City of God. He put his Ministers in charge of three hundred and sixty areas of human culture, teaching them to grow crops and to make laws concerning what is good and what is evil.A tiger and a bear living in a nearby cave saw this city and desperately wanted to become human. Every day they came to the sandalwood tree at the center of the city to pray fervently for becoming humans.Hwanung saw their devotion and gave them instructions to remain in the cave and fast for one month, eating nothing but garlic and mugwort. The tiger was too impatient to stand the long and boring days in the cave, so he gave up and left, but Bear maintained the fast. At the end of the month she was transformed into a beautiful woman who became the mother of the Korean people.Her first son was Don-gun, the First King of the Korean people. When Don-Gun passed on the throne to his own son, he became a Mountain God. It is interesting that mountain gods are still worshipped today in Korea.Text by Steve Smith.


text:
Yes, I said chocolate. My all-time, hands down, favorite delicacy in the world. I have been trying to make sure to keep the kids busy this summer to stave off boredom. As a parent (and as all parents know) boredom = trouble. Trouble comes in many forms. They can range from mild bickering to full-out knock-down drag out fights & wrestling matches. We were supposed to visit The Columbus Zoo & Aquarium yesterday, but the weather did not cooperate. I couldn't take another rainy day cooped up inside, so off to Anthony-Thomas Candy Factory we went! Anthony-Thomas does free tours of their candy factory! What a bonus! They also have an on-site candy shoppe for purchasing multiple yummy treats on your way out.
As we arrived, we were greeted by the amazing smell of chocolate! I instantly knew that this would be a place that I would have to visit repeatedly. The tour took about 20 -30 minutes, doable for kids (and adults) of all ages. 😉 Unfortunately there was no photography permitted in the factory, so I can't show you any candy making shots. I did learn all kinds of interesting facts today.
- Anthony & Thomas are 2 names combined to make one company name.
- Anthony is the father of Thomas.
- The business started out as candy making, soda shop & lunch counter, but the candy was so successful, that they decided to focus solely on candy.
- Anthony-Thomas is still very much a family run business.
- Thomas has a daughter that he named Candy. (I really got a kick out of that!)
- Employees can eat as much candy as they like while they are at work! (Enough reason for me to apply!)
- Anthony-Thomas also does contract work for other candy companies. They weren't allowed to tell us who, so I was told when I asked, however, there was a label that I could see and it is one of the larger candy companies! I was a little surprised by this.
- Did you know that if you freeze chocolate, you need to put it in the fridge before you take it out to room temperature? I learn something new everyday!
After the tour we obviously hit up the candy shoppe. First we were treated to an amazing sample of the Buckeyes there were making today. Heaven in my mouth!!! So smooth & creamy.
Here is the Buckeye that I ate:
Just kidding! LOL!! This Buckeye weighs in at 235 pounds and costs $3,500.00!
Hannah, my niece & my little sister, Regan. Jon could not be bothered for a photo.
The kids each had an allotted amount of money to spend on whatever treats they wanted. It was not easy for them to make these choices, let me tell you! LOL! Heck, it wasn't easy for me either, but I settled on Dark Chocolate Covered Blueberries & Dark Chocolate Covered Cranberries. Also, Jon & I bought a 72% Dark Chocolate Bar to split.
Here are some of Jon's goodies ~ Cappuccino Truffle (note the ketchup, salt & pepper on his fingers from his fries!):
Truly a wonderful, gluten-free experience! Great way to spend a good 1 – 1.5 hours and keep the kids happy! 🙂
Afterwards we went to Cheeseburger in Paradise, which wasn't as good of an experience.
Filed under: Family, Gluten-Free, Gluten-free Eateries, Gluten-free Products |