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Sanapur: A Serene Riverside Village in Hampi
Hampi, located in the southern state of Karnataka, India, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that attracts thousands of tourists every year. Known for its stunning rock formations, ancient temples, and rich history, Hampi is a must-visit destination for anyone interested in culture, history, and architecture. But beyond the famous landmarks and attractions, Hampi is also home to many charming villages that offer visitors a glimpse into rural life in India. One such village is Sanapur, a peaceful riverside hamlet that is well worth a visit.
Now if you are planning to travel to Hampi and searching for a less crowded alternative, then consider visiting Sanapur- a small village on the other side of the Tungabhadra river which is far less crowded compared to the side where the major Hampi monuments are located. The village is just 4 km away from Hampi and is absolutely amazing.
Located on the banks of the Tungabhadra River, Sanapur is a picturesque village that is surrounded by lush greenery and towering boulders. The village is only a short drive from Hampi and is easily accessible by taxi, auto-rickshaw, or scooter. As you enter the village, you will be greeted by the sight of the Tungabhadra River flowing gently through the countryside, and the sound of chirping birds and rustling leaves.
Sanapur is home to several amazing resorts that exude a relaxing atmosphere, including the Serene Boulders. This resort definitely stands out as it is located right next to the Tungabhadra river, allowing visitors to enjoy the sound of the flowing water while relaxing in the café. The resort is surrounded by lush green nature and offers excellent food and beautiful hut-style rooms, creating a truly tranquil and peaceful experience.
The place is also surrounded by lush green forests and hills, which provide ample opportunities for nature walks, birdwatching, and trekking. The area is home to a wide variety of wildlife, including spotted deer, monkeys, and various species of birds.
One of the main attractions of Sanapur is its ancient reservoir, known as the Sanapur Lake. On the way, you will be greeted with the never-ending paddy fields decorated with rocky formations in the background.
The lake offers a serene and peaceful environment for visitors to relax and soak in the natural beauty. It’s huge and is bordered by hillocks, densely filled with different-sized boulders.
Just 15-20 mins away from Serene boulders are the Sanapur waterfalls, which is another absolutely stunning place to visit! This is a perfect place to relax as you can sit in the water with your feet inside the damp sand.
Another less-known but absolutely stunning place to visit is Vanabhadra – A place surrounded by majestic rocks with breathtaking sights, and an awe-inspiring sunset view. Not many people are aware of this place and probably, locals can help you reach there. One remarkable view here is a rock painted as Nandi – it's absolutely stunning! There is a beautiful ancient Shiva temple as well On top of one of the hills which adds to the spiritual beauty of the area.
Sanapur is home to several ancient temples, some of which are:
Ranganatha Temple - The Ranganatha Temple is the main temple in Sanapur and is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The temple dates back to the 12th century and features intricate carvings and sculptures.
Panchamukhi Anjaneya Temple - The Panchamukhi Anjaneya Temple is dedicated to Lord Hanuman and is located on top of a hill near Sanapur. The temple is famous for its five-faced statue of Hanuman, which is said to represent the five elements of nature.
Chandramouleshwara Temple - The Chandramouleshwara Temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and is located near the Tungabhadra River. The temple is known for its beautiful carvings and sculptures, and is a popular spot for photography.
Gavi Ranganatha Temple - The Gavi Ranganatha Temple is located in a forested area near Sanapur and is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The temple is surrounded by lush greenery and is a peaceful place to visit.
These are just a few of the many temples that can be found in and around Sanapur. Each temple has its own unique history and architectural style and is well worth a visit for anyone interested in culture and history.
Sanapur is a great place to relax and unwind after a busy day of sightseeing in Hampi. The village is famous for its laid-back atmosphere and serene surroundings, and many visitors come here to escape the crowds and noise of the city. You can spend your time exploring the village, taking a stroll along the riverbank, or simply sitting by the water's edge and watching the world go by.
Sanapur is also a great place to try some local cuisine. The village is home to a few small restaurants and cafes that serve traditional South Indian dishes such as dosas, idlis, and vadas. You can also try the local specialty, bisi bele bath, a spicy rice dish that is a favorite among the locals.
Sanapur is a charming and peaceful village that offers a refreshing break from the hustle and bustle of Hampi. Whether you are looking to explore ancient temples, admire scenic vistas, or simply relax by the river, Sanapur is a great place to do it. So next time you're in Hampi, be sure to add Sanapur to your itinerary!
Here is a video on Sanapur that will give you more information:
Also here are some pictures:


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Appeals Court Affirms that Mississippi Death Row Conditions are Unconstitutional
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW ORLEANS-In the most comprehensive decision regarding death row conditions in the last ten years, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit has affirmed a lower court’s opinion that Mississippi’s death row is unconstitutional and requires improvements, the American Civil Liberties Union and the law firm Holland & Knight announced today.
“We believe this decision will have far-reaching implications for thousands of other prisoners,”” said Margaret Winter, Associate Director of the ACLU’s National Prison Project. “”We know that brutal prison conditions have existed on Mississippi’s death row for many years. The appeals court has now affirmed that while the state may be authorized to execute death-sentenced prisoners, it may not torture prisoners to death while they are pursuing their rights to appeal their sentences.””
In a ruling issued on June 28, the appeals court ordered Mississippi prison officials to fix malfunctioning toilets that spill human waste into cells, provide fans and ice to prisoners on exceedingly hot days, stop mosquito infestations and properly treat prisoners suffering from mental illness.
The ACLU brought the challenge to the death row conditions together with the law firm Holland & Knight, which provided pro bono assistance in the case.
“Official indifference has brought the men on death row to the brink of physical and mental breakdown,” said Steve Hanlon, a partner at Holland & Knight. “We applaud the court’s decision for the human rights protections it affords to prisoners.”
Commenting on the trial court’s findings, the 5th Circuit panel wrote: “”We agree that the conditions of inadequate mental health care. . . do present a risk of serious harm to the inmates mental and physical health.”” Furthermore, the court said, “”frequent exposure to the waste of other persons can certainly present health hazards that constitute a serious risk of substantial harm.””
At issue in Monday’s ruling was an appeal filed by the Mississippi Department of Corrections to stop a district court order that found officials had violated “minimal standards of decency, health and well-being” because of the deplorable conditions on Mississippi’s death row. The state was required to remedy those conditions under the district court’s order. U.S. Magistrate Judge Jerry A. Davis ruled in May 2003 that “no matter how heinous the crime committed, there is no excuse for such living conditions ” on death row.
Expert testimony presented by the ACLU’s National Prison Project and Holland & Knight at trial in February 2003 described torturous conditions at Mississippi’s State Penitentiary in Parchman.
“The presence of severely psychotic prisoners who foul their cells, stop up their toilets, flood the tiers with excrement, and keep other prisoners awake all night with their incessant screams and shouts,” are “virtually certain to cause medical illness and destruction of mental stability and functioning,” said psychiatrist Terry A. Kupers, who testified after touring Unit 32C where death row prisoners are confined.
Kupers said that conditions on the unit include solitary confinement combined with “the extremes of heat and humidity, a grossly unsanitary environment, vermin, arbitrary and punitive disciplinary policies, and inadequate health and mental health care.”
Dr. Susi Vassallo, an expert in thermoregulation and a volunteer through Doctors of the World-USA’s Medical Advocacy Project, visited Mississippi’s death row in August 2002 and testified that the heat in the cells was “inhuman” and highly likely to cause heat stroke and other heat-related illness during the summer months. She testified that it was merely a matter of luck that no death row prisoner had yet died from the heat.
The lawsuit, Russell v. Johnson, was brought by the ACLU’s National Prison Project, Holland & Knight, and civil rights attorney Robert McDuff of Jackson, MS.
Every month, you'll receive regular roundups of the most important civil rights and civil liberties developments. Remember: a well-informed citizenry is the best defense against tyranny.

domain: law


These aren’t the types of vegetables your parents nagged you about finishing when you grew up. Produce harvested by The Villages Grown, The Villages’ farm-to-table initiative, packs a strong flavor that’s owed to its freshness. “So many people have said they don’t like vegetables,” said Jennifer Waxman, The Villages Grown’s executive director. “We convert them, because they’ve never had a real vegetable.” And it’s healthy, too. The Villages Grown grows its produce with peak nutrition in mind, striving to get food out to the community within two to 48 hours of harvest so people reap the highest vitamin and nutrient benefits, Waxman said. “We’re giving the plant everything it physiologically needs to help it grow faster,” she said. “We’re striving for nutrient-dense.” This system is based on a philosophy of food as medicine and a belief that people should have access to good, nutritious food at prices that aren’t outrageous, she said.
A growing operation unlike any other
The Villages Grown way involves a hyperlocal system designed with the freshest, most nutritious and most locally sourced food possible, Waxman said.
The operation is unique among food systems because it is both a grower and a reseller of agricultural products, she said.
In addition to crops grown by its own farmers, it has partnerships with a network of 17 local farms and 26 local artisans that supplement their harvests with seasonal crops and locally made agricultural products like honey, olive oil and tea.
The Villages Grown’s own farming takes place in its controlled environment greenhouses, located on 45 acres at the southwest corner of Morse Boulevard and State Road 44.
Cultivating this produce involves farmers using vertical hydroponics, a process that uses vertically stacked towers to plant and grow more crops on less land. Hydroponics is a style of growing that does not use soil.
Doing this maximizes the amount of space farmers have to grow, while also keeping the operation’s carbon footprint as low as possible, Waxman said.
While establishing a hydroponics system is costly, the likely results — better crop yields and more frequent harvests — are well worth it, said Matt Smith, a multi-county sustainable agriculture and food systems agent with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Smith’s territory includes Sumter County.
It’s also efficient in delivering nutrients to plants and maximizing the amount of oxygen that reaches the roots, he said.
“We’re able to very efficiently deliver nutrients to the plants and maximize the amount of oxygen that gets to the root, especially the ones with no soil media at all. You just have the plants with the tips of the roots going into the water.”
Hydroponics is common in greenhouse settings like those at The Villages Grown because they’re climate-controlled and allow for year-round production, Smith said.
For example, the recirculation of air in a greenhouse using a system of fans is effective in reducing heat in the summer months, he said. This is important because certain crops, like tomatoes, can’t flower when it’s too hot.
While The Villages Grown’s greenhouses are a controlled environment, Waxman tries to emulate crops growing in the natural world.
One way she does this is by keeping bees in greenhouses where plants that depend on pollination are grown.
On the outside of The Villages Grown property are more beehives that come from Scott Irving of Lake Panasoffkee-based Riverview Apiaries. Irving, who raises bees for honey production, is one of The Villages Grown’s local artisans and a vendor at the Brownwood Farmers Market.
Waxman said The Villages Grown is about three years ahead of the Food Safety Modernization Act, a series of rules and regulations that govern U.S. food production.
It also exceeds the standards of GLOBALG.A.P. certification, the highest standard of accreditation for an agricultural producer, Waxman said. The Villages Grown expects to receive this certification next month.
All produce grown on the farm is chemical-free and pesticide-free, Waxman said.
That exceeds the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s standards for labeling as an organic product, because organic does not mean chemical-free, she said.
“We use no chemicals in a clean technology environment that hasn’t been adulterated by animals, human or weather,” Waxman said. “It’s pure, clean agriculture.”
What Villagers can expect
The Villages Grown is now growing 74 unique crops including lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and microgreens, young vegetable greens picked when the first leaves are developed.
Microgreens are valued for their high nutritional content, Waxman said.
She cited studies from Johns Hopkins University and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center that found some microgreens, such as broccoli microgreens, may contain up to 40 times more nutrients than their mature counterparts.
“Our goal is to get every Villager to eat one cup of microgreens every day,” she said.
The Villages Grown has 12 types of microgreens in its catalog: arugula, beets, broccoli, rainbow chard, kale, purple kohlrabi, mix mild, mix spicy, mizuna, mustard, radish and wasabi.
Farmers recently added sugar snap peas, crystal lettuce, watermelon radishes, popcorn shoots and pea shoots to their catalog. (Shoots are like microgreens, but grow thicker. Waxman compared their texture to mung beans.)
The path that crops take before they reach a customer’s plate is simple: After they’re grown, they’re harvested, packed and then delivered.
Most crops will end up at either The Villages Grown’s retail store in Brownwood Paddock Square or its mobile market, an Airstream trailer outfitted to travel to different parts of The Villages to sell produce directly to residents.
The Villages Grown’s Brownwood retail store not only includes food from its own farm, but also seasonal produce and agricultural products from the local farm and artisan partners. Participating farms are within a 100-mile radius of The Villages and participating artisans are within a 150-mile radius, Waxman said.
The mobile market stops at common areas on a rotating basis throughout the community every Monday through Friday, including golf courses and the Spanish Springs and Lake Sumter Landing town centers.
The COVID-19 pandemic motivated some Villagers and area residents to buy their produce from The Villages Grown’s retail store or mobile market instead of supermarkets.
Aside from supporting local agriculture, they also wished to avoid large, crowded spaces to get their produce.
“I wasn’t going to any supermarkets, so I thought I’d come here,” Ruth Weil, of the Village of Duval, said while browsing the Brownwood retail store. “It was wonderful.”
What she likes the most from the retail store are the white cucumbers, sweet potatoes and broccoli microgreens. Sometimes, she can find good tomatoes there.
“I just like a real, home-grown tomato,” Weil said.
By its nature, a community food system like The Villages Grown supports a community through increased access to locally grown, nutritious food.
Nine restaurants in and around The Villages are using produce from The Villages Grown, including Palmer Legends Country Club, Lazy Mac’s Taco Shack and Fenney Grill. Waxman expects more restaurants to participate when The Villages Grown expands its crop production in August.
The Villages Grown also is working in partnership with four hospital and medical networks: UF Health Central Florida, The Villages Health, Orlando Health Hospitals and AVI Food Systems.
Partnerships with local farms and artisans benefit the community by supporting Central Florida’s agriculture industry.
Getting involved with The Villages Grown proved helpful to Byron White of Yaupon Brothers American Tea Co., a New Smyrna Beach-based business that sells tea made from the leaves of the Florida native yaupon holly plant.
Currently, the retail store carries five different varieties of Yaupon Brothers tea and three seasonal offerings, he said.
What attracted White to The Villages Grown was its commitment to sustainable agriculture, a value his business embodies through making products with Florida native plants and promoting organic and regenerative agriculture.
“We’re very happy to be aligned with them,” he said.
Another farm in The Villages Grown’s network, Long and Scott Farms in Zellwood, distributes a variety of crops that include cucumbers, cabbage, kale, okra, green beans, collard greens, and its famous sweet corn.
Sourcing produce as local as possible allows customers to know where their food comes from, something that’s possible when they support The Villages Grown, said Hank Scott, co-owner of the farm.
“I think people, especially nowadays, are concerned about how food is being grown and how it’s being treated, and realize locally grown stuff is fresher,” he said.
Ocoee-based Lake Meadow Naturals harvests eggs from the farm’s flock of heritage breed chickens, ducks and guinea hens. The eggs, along with pickled and preserved goods made on its site, are sold at The Villages Grown’s retail store.
Farmer Dale Volkert grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin before moving to Florida to pursue a career in sales and marketing. He returned to farm life when he opened Lake Meadows in 2002, a year after purchasing the land there.
What interested him about starting a farm was knowing where his food was coming from, especially in a time when demand for clean and fresh food was increasing.
“The farm-to-table movement was starting and people were paying more attention to the labels,” Volkert said. “I’m a low ingredient person. I don’t like adding ingredients with words you can’t pronounce.”
That comfort of knowing the food is clean and locally made is apparent at The Villages Grown, he said.
“I think they’ve done a wonderful job creating that greenhouse year-round,” he said. “We’re a supporter of Florida agriculture, and I feel they wanted to carry other small producers.”
Typically, small farmers don’t produce crops at a high-enough volume to enter the wholesale market so they can sell to large buyers like supermarkets, said Smith, the UF/IFAS agent.
But The Villages Grown’s embrace of the products of small farms gives them an additional outlet beyond farm and farmers market settings to sell what they have to offer, helping keep them in business, he said.
That, as well as The Villages Grown’s own farming, serve a double purpose for consumers in enabling access to local food.
“It’s a great way for local Sumter county residents to enjoy locally produced Sumter County produce,” Smith said.
Senior writer Michael Salerno can be reached at 352-753-1119, ext. 5369, or firstname.lastname@example.org.


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Who was the first female mystery writer? Metta Fuller Victor’s The Dead Letter, published as by “Seeley Register” in serial form between 1866 and 1867, is widely recognized as the first detective novel written by
Who was the first female mystery writer?
Metta Fuller Victor’s The Dead Letter, published as by “Seeley Register” in serial form between 1866 and 1867, is widely recognized as the first detective novel written by a woman.
Who is the most famous female author in English literature?
10 Famous Women Writers
- Enheduanna. Enheduanna was born in 2285 BCE.
- Maya Angelou. Maya Angelou was born in 1928 in Missouri.
- Beverly Cleary. Beverly Cleary grew up on a farm in Oregon before moving to Portland.
- Willa Cather.
- Sandra Cisneros.
- Virginia Woolf.
- Louisa May Alcott.
- Toni Morrison.
Who was considered the queen of the golden age of mysteries?
1920 to 1939 came to be known as the Golden Age of Detective Fiction. And the queen of his age was Agatha Christie. During her lifetime, Agatha Christie wrote sixty-six detective novels and fourteen short story collections.
Who is the best mystery author?
The 10 Best Mystery Authors of All Time
- Tana French.
- natsuo kirino.
- dennis lehane.
- Carlos Ruiz Zafón.
- walter mosley.
- Parker bilal.
- arthur conan doyle.
- agatha christie.
Who are the most significant authors of the Golden Age?
Most of the authors of the Golden Age were British: Margery Allingham (1904–1966), Anthony Berkeley (aka Francis Iles, 1893–1971), Nicholas Blake (1904–1972), G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936), Dame Agatha Christie (1890–1976), Edmund Crispin (1921–1978), Freeman Wills Crofts (1879–1957), R.
Is crime fiction the most popular genre?
Nielsen Bookscan data at the London book fair has revealed that crime novels in 2017, for the first time since Nielsen’s records began, sold more than the category rather vaguely labelled “general and literary fiction”. …
Who is the most popular female author?
Here are 10 of the most mentioned authors, in no particular order, and what our readers had to say about them:
- Doris Lessing (1919 – 2013)
- Toni Morrison (born 1931)
- Ursula K Le Guin (born 1929)
- Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)
- Clarice Lispector (1920 – 1977)
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (born 1977)
- Margaret Atwood (born 1939)
Who is the best-selling female author?
Agatha Christie // Estimated 2 billion books sold According to Guinness World Records, Agatha Christie has the title of “world’s best-selling fiction writer,” with estimated sales of over 2 billion.
Which are some of the best books by female writers?
17.39 Full disclosure: I already picked this baby up during my last local bookstore visit.
Who are the most popular mystery authors?
Without a doubt, Agatha Christie has got to be the most popular mystery writer ever. She wrote 66 detective stories, which featured some incredibly endearing characters such as Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot ; these stories have gone on to be adapted for television countless times.
Who are the Best Crime Writers?
The best crime writers 1. Linda Fairstein 2. James Patterson 3. Arthur Conan Doyle 4. Agatha Christie 5. John Ray Grisham 6. Stephen King 7. Dan Brown
Who are some great female writers?

domain: library


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McKenna Loafer - Black
The McKenna loafers come with a pair of Hartt premium cedar shoe trees included.
The Mckenna Loafer in black is the perfect blend of sophistication and versatility, due to its iconic design which can be dressed up or down. Featuring a premium French calf leather upper, full leather sole, and 270-degree welt this tassel loafer has been meticulously handcrafted to be your go-to shoe for years to come.
Pair the McKenna with a suit or your favourite pair of jeans and elevate your style.
- Premium French-calf leather
- Soft calfskin lining
- Full Leather Sole
- Stacked leather heel with rubber inlay
- 270-degree Goodyear-welt construction
- Designed in Canada
- Handmade in Spain
- US sizing

domain: design


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When millions of Americans pop the corks off champagne bottles in the first seconds of Jan. 1, those who make resolutions will officially be obliged to keep them.
Payson yoga instructor Anthony Alfano is one of the 38 percent of Americans who choose to end the year without resolutions.
“I’m metaphysically opposed,” he said. “I don’t think we really follow them.”
According to author Stephen Shapiro, Alfano is right. Just 8 percent of Americans are always successful in achieving their resolutions while 49 percent have “infrequent success.”
In 2006, Shapiro found that 45 percent of Americans said they usually make New Year’s resolutions, down from a historical 88 percent.
Shapiro conducted the random telephone survey of 1,012 Americans with the help of the New Jersey-based Opinion Research Corp.
At a Payson coffee shop Monday, roughly half of the six people interviewed had predetermined their New Year’s resolutions.
“I’ve made a list,” said Julie Lynch. She plans to attend morning Mass more, practice yoga, and take a computer class.
“Just those three,” Lynch said. “And if I do that, I’ll be doing good.”
Lynch’s husband, Jack, said, “I’m going to try to be a better citizen.” Jack said he consistently criticizes a certain public agency, but declined to specify which. “After Jan. 1, I’m not going to complain anymore,” Jack said.
Naomi Farber vowed to start her days with fruit smoothies instead of coffee.
“I intend to break my bad habit of going to bed late and getting up too late so I can exercise with my husband in the morning,” said JoAnne Smith.
Although the New Year won’t begin until Thursday, Farber and Smith were already celebrating on Monday. The two had eaten lunch and were sipping coffee while wearing costumes.
Farber wore a red suit and said she was imitating the Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Smith wore a black hat with large round black sequins, a black sparkly turtleneck and black leather pants.
“We’re just celebrating our lives as friends,” said Farber.
“We like to costume together,” said Smith.
Of those who do set resolutions, 38 percent relate to weight, according to Shapiro. Thirty-one percent set resolutions related to relationships, and 47 percent resolve to improve themselves or their education.
Sara Eddy and Dugan Eckstein are among the latter category.
Eddy, who attends Coconino Community College in Flagstaff although she lives in Payson, said she wants to focus more on school this year.
Eckstein said he wants to stop working so much and return to school, ultimately to earn an associate’s degree in criminal justice.
Shapiro says that youth correlates to higher success in maintaining resolutions. That might explain why Eckstein, 19, said that he usually achieves his.
“I don’t make them that tough,” he said.
Alfano, the yoga teacher, said, “I think you have to live in the now more than the future.”
Shapiro, who wrote a book called “Goal-free Living,” agrees with Alfano.
He suggests reflecting on how a person can improve his happiness level today rather than believing it lies in the future. Shapiro adds that achieving resolutions rarely makes people happier — attitude matters more than results.
Further, Shapiro suggests making “theme-based” resolutions as opposed to “goal-based.”
For example — he plans on using 2009 as the year of doing “cool things.”
Farber had a similar resolution — try something new every few months. “You know, something you haven’t done before.”

domain: sociology


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A ‘professional beggar’ has apparently been snapped changing into ‘scruffy’ clothes and then asking people for cash.
Pictures allegedly showed the man removing a ‘brand new’ coat and ‘smart’ trainers before climbing into a sleeping bag.EU citizens 'denied vote' in European elections because of admin errors
The snaps were taken outside Liverpool’s Moorfields Railway Station on February 9 and then handed to the city council.
‘I couldn’t believe what I was seeing because he was putting scruffy trousers and a big old coat over the top of them, there was a girl next to me who was also watching in disbelief,’ the photographer, who wanted to remain anonymous, told the Liverpool Echo.
‘I decided to quickly take photographs because I think it shows the problem that is happening in the city, I was shocked at what I was seeing and thought people should see it.’
A worker at the train station, who also didn’t want to give their name, said they had seen a beggar who could be the man in the photo.
‘I see him in the morning. He gets here about 7am, puts his coat, climbs into a sleeping bag, puts his cap on, puts his paper cup out and just lies there as if he’s been there all night,’ they said.
‘And then people just give him money. He’ll be there for two or three hours and then he’ll clear off. He’s only there in the mornings.
‘Last week I saw a woman give him a note, what looked like a £10 or £20 note.
‘I felt like saying something to her and telling her that she’d just been conned – he’s conning people.
The pictures have been used by Liverpool’s mayor Joe Anderson to show the problem of ‘professional beggars’.
He claims they are coming to the city from outside areas.
He added: ‘This backs up what we have been saying, we are not targeting people who need our support – we are targeting those who are taking advantage of the people of Liverpool, who are getting money under false pretences.’


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Aldi attracts lots of shoppers with its low prices. But some items aren’t even worth the low cost. Since they’re sealed in cans, it’s not always easy to tell which canned foods hit the mark and which ones miss. So we identified these, the canned foods at Aldi you should skip.
Do all you can to avoid Brookdale Pork Luncheon Meat. This gross stuff is a knockoff of Spam that will make you shudder from the moment you smell it. It smells so bad that you might not even want to taste it.
If you do taste it, you’ll be perplexed that this Spam imitation somehow tastes even worse than it smells. And then there’s the texture: It’s rubbery and breaks apart if you try to heat it up in a frying pan like Spam.
Real Spam has a lot of flavors a lot of people love, but there’s nothing that you’ll enjoy about Brookdale Pork Luncheon Meat. Unless you plan on buying it to feed it to your worst enemy, there’s no reason for this canned junk to end up in your cart.
Watch the video for more about Canned Foods You Should Never Buy From Aldi!
Brookdale Pork Luncheon Meat | 0:00
Simply Nature Organic Lentil Soup | 0:53
Casa Mamita Traditional Refried Beans | 1:32
Sweet Harvest Mandarin Oranges in Light Syrup | 2:18
Brookdale Chili with Beans | 2:56
Simply Nature Organic Chicken Noodle Soup | 3:30
Northern Catch Pink Salmon | 3:59
Dakota’s Pride Grill Style Beans | 4:51
Simply Nature Organic Tomato Basil Soup | 5:45
Baker’s Corner Cherry Pie Filling | 6:36
Brookdale Corned Beef | 7:31
Fit & Active Chicken Noodle Chunky Style Soup | 8:11
Pueblo Lindo Chipotle Peppers | 8:57
Fit & Active Cream of Mushroom Condensed Soup | 9:28
Read full article: https://www.mashed.com/211698/the-7-best-and-7-worst-canned-foods-from-aldi/

domain: food


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I am still trying to figure out what I am doing for my own Christmas cards this year, but I found some cute ideas online i wanted to share with you! They are all from Martha Stewarts site. ( I HEART her stuff)
Anyway, there is the directions to this fun card, which I think would be adorable for my son to help make for his classmates:
and then they share this idea to make with your old cards from last year, or maybe fun vintage cards you can pick up at an antique store?
And if you didn't see it in the forums I shared THIS LINK, which as adorable free downloads which would make SUCH cute embellies a Christmas card!

domain: artistic


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Mother charged after 4-month-old sustains burns that almost lead to amputation
A Penn Township woman was arrested and charged after her 4-month-old child was taken to a hospital for severe and life-threatening burns.
Melissa Rae Addis, 27, of the 600 block of Frederick Street, was charged with endangering welfare of children after a welfare check was performed on her children on April 4, according to an affidavit filed with District Judge Jeffrey Sneeringer.
Police were informed that a 4-month-old boy was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital Burn Center, Allentown, for burns to his body.
Through police investigation, they discovered Addis was home when the incident happened, and the baby was supposed to be in her care, the affidavit states.
During the welfare check, the baby boy was found laying on the floor up against an activated baseboard heater inside a bedroom for an unknown amount of time, police said in the affidavit.
The heater caused severe and permanent burns to the baby's arm, head and leg.
Police spoke with a doctor from the hospital, who said the baby would have had to have been against the heater for a substantial amount of time to cause such serious injuries, the affidavit states.
According to the medical staff, the baby almost had to have his arm amputated, police said in the affidavit.
Police obtained a search warrant for Addis' home and on April 25, and they tested the heater.
Addis was charged on May 21 and taken to York County Prison on May 29 in lieu of $5,000, according to online court documents.
She posted 10 percent of her bail in cash on May 31.
Addis has a preliminary hearing scheduled for June 14, documents state.
Her attorney could not be reach for comment.

domain: news


text: I have been working hard on my newest quilt. I am machine quilting it and adding a bit more hand embroidery, too. I'm not supposed to show it or talk about it in specifics. I can eventually. In the meantime, it's coming along. It's an exhilarating feeling to see the final stages.


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Offshore tax planning and wealth management have become highly politicized as they have sometimes been used as means to evade taxes. As a result, tax regulators across the globe are implementing a new standard for the Automatic Exchange of Information called the Common Reporting Standard (CRS).
CRS was developed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in response to a G20 request. Its aim is to facilitate the exchange of financial account information among participating countries and is regarded as a critical tool to combat tax evasion.
At present, there are over a hundred countries which have committed to adopting the CRS, and the ambitious goal is to implement this worldwide by the end of 2018. The standard provides the criteria for reporting financial information of an account and does not include systems for tax collection.
A majority of the G20, OECD and EU member countries have adopted CRS since 2017, and this year, Asian countries such as China, Macau SAR, HK SAR, Japan, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, will be included.
Generally, the CRS sets an information-sharing mechanism that requires financial institutions such as banks, funds and fund managers, trust companies, brokers, insurance companies, and custodial institutions to identify foreign tax resident account holders.
To be able to comply with this new standard, participating jurisdictions must obtain specific financial information of certain individuals from their financial institution and exchange that information on a yearly basis with other relevant participating jurisdictions.
Financial institutions are required to identify where the customer is a tax resident or simply where the individual is liable to pay taxes, be it income or corporate. So for individuals who are tax residents outside the CRS-participating country where they bank, they may be required to provide financial account information to the national tax authority in that jurisdiction where their accounts are held. The information may then be shared with the tax authority of the country where they are tax residents.
With this, opening a bank account or investing in new financial products within CRS-participating countries may require individuals to undergo self-certification which involves verifying several personal details. Some of the information that will be required to be reported include the holder’s name, address, place and date of birth, account number, dividend, interest, account balance, proceeds from a sale, and other relevant data.
Although high-profile individuals and those who own significant reportable financial assets offshore—including properties and foreign investments—are most likely the people who are affected by the implementation of this new standard, the average individual holding financial assets overseas, foreign tax residents living and working in CRS-participating countries, and expatriates are under the radar too. They must ensure that they make accurate tax declarations. Failing to comply will inevitably cause substantial financial and reputational risk.
The CRS is not intended to increase individuals’ tax burden but instead to improve the collection of taxes under the current laws. This new standard is intended to fight tax evasion and not lawful tax mitigation. There are still opportunities for tax planning, however, with the newly implemented standards, a tax expert may be required to ensure the measures comply with the tax laws. It is very important to know that failing to comply CRS will inevitably cause substantial financial risk.
Financial institutions, on the other hand, would also need to review their existing procedures and policies regarding information reporting to comply with the rules set by the CRS. This may include identifying entities that are within scope, assessing current customer due-diligence procedures, reviewing existing customer onboarding and self-certification forms, as well as modifying the overall system capability with regards to information gathering and reporting.
A major takeaway from the CRS implementation is that it will not create any new tax for the individual from their own tax jurisdiction although it may be the most significant international scale of financial information exchange. It is not about where the assets are held, but which is the tax jurisdiction of the beneficial owner of these assets. You are encouraged to learn more and to make sure that you and your financial or tax advisor fully comply with the new rules.


Commute to Downtown West Haven
Most errands can be accomplished on foot.
This location has a Walk Score of 82 out of 100. This location is Very Walkable so most errands can be accomplished on foot.
This location is in West Haven. Nearby parks include Painter Park, Ray Park and Ken Strong Stadium.
Nearby schools include West Haven High School, Washington School and Edith E. Mackrille School.
The closest grocery stores are Star Foods LLC, Krauszer's Food Stores and Grillo's Market.
Nearby coffee shops include Dunkin' Donuts, Dunkin' Donuts and Scoreboards Cafe. There are 21 restaurants within a 15 minute walk including Savin Rock Roasting Co, Sun-Rise Grill and Dubel's Cafe.
This location is near Bradley Point Park, Shingle Hill Park and Bayview Park.
Explore how far you can travel by car, bus, bike and foot from this location.
This location is in the city of West Haven, CT. West Haven has an average Walk Score of 46 and has 55,564 residents.Learn More About West Haven


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Shares of high-end retailer SaksInc. are up 70 percent from 2009, boosted by sales of such items as custom-tailored shirts, shoes and handbags, and lines unique to the department-store chain, CEO and Chairman Steve Sadove told CNBC Monday.
“We are seeing the consumers out shopping,” said Sadove, of the holiday season and the just-finished Black Friday weekend.
“Certainly the luxury consumers are feeling much better about themselves, and they’re showing that through their pocketbook.”
He said customers look to Saks for exclusive pieces under its own label and brands found only in the chain. Ten to 15 percent of Saks' merchandise fits into that category now, added Sadove; he plans to up that percentage to 20 within the next few years.
Although Saks’ core of customers are American, Sadove said that European tourists are shopping at the store increasingly.


The Samsung Galaxy S5 is the big dog of the phones and tablets announced at MWC in Barcelona.
It's the shiny new version of the South Korean firm's flagship smartphone, and it features some new tech previously unseen in the Android ecosystem.
So, the Galaxy S5 boasts a fingerprint scanner, a heart rate monitor, and a big 5.1-inch screen with an HD resolution. It's still made of plastic, though it's got a shiny "chromed plastic" edge thing running around the outside.
Screen - 5.1-inch FHD Super AMOLED 1920x1080 display
Under the hood - 2.5GHz quad-core application processor and 2GB of RAM
Camera - 16-megapixel camera on the back, 2-megapixel camera on the front
Operating system - Android 4.4.2 (KitKat)
Special features - Heartbeat sensor, fingerprint scanner, splashproof
Release date - Available worldwide in April


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|Title||Cross-Cultural Filmmaking in New Zealand National Cinema|
This thesis argues that the processes and resulting products of cross-cultural creative collaboration and financial partnerships in fiction filmmaking affect both the output and the very notion of New Zealand national cinema. Although the culture of commercialism in transnational financial partnerships is volatile and, therefore, the degree to which authorial control and cultural ‘veracity’ are compromised remains unpredictable, a great deal of intra-national cross-cultural collaboration in the creative processes of filmmaking is being undertaken with high levels of mutual respect and considerable awareness of both what differentiates and what connects peoples from different cultures. At a grass roots level, substantial goodwill is being generated by dialogic models of cross-cultural collaboration that provide exemplars for both the film industry and other spheres of cultural and national activity.
While the speed and degree to which perspectives formed on the nation’s cultural peripheries are welcomed into ‘mainstream’ cinematic projections remain unsatisfactory, progress is being made. Much contemporary cross-cultural filmmaking is characterised by the bending and democratisation of traditional production cultures, resulting in higher levels of multiple authorship than is the norm, and the creation of new types of aesthetically hybridised films that bear the marks of their cross-cultural origins. The parameters of ‘mainstream’ national cinema in Aotearoa New Zealand are thus broadened by a burgeoning cinema that operates beyond damaging stereotypes, combines naturalistic and symbolic registers in new ways, makes visible and allows identification with the nation’s under-represented minority communities and, in doing so, inscribes a permanent place for these peoples in the national imaginary.
By foregrounding the creative processes and attitudes of filmmakers and their collaborators, this thesis contributes to a growing body of work that re-appropriates and elevates authorial process and intent for a consideration of ‘the national’ in cinema and, in doing so, reveals the practicality of hoping that the cross-cultural creative collaborations increasingly producing mainstream culture indicate the evolution of a genuinely more inclusive and plural concept of New Zealand national identity.
|Keywords||cross-cultural filmmaking, transnational film funding, national cinema, New Zealand film, dialogism,|
|Funder||University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship|


Musicians invest a lot of time, effort, and passion into every piece they produce. That's why they need to protect their work from exploitation using copyright.
Through copyright protection, a person, company, or organization cannot reproduce, reuse or distribute your work without your permission. Just as copyright protects an artist from exploitation, it also gives them the right to transfer these rights to others. This means that the owner of a song can license or sell the rights to their song. Therefore, if you would like to use a song for commercial purposes or for whatever reasons you may have, you can consider buying its music rights.
This article will help you learn more about buying music rights, how it works and why you should consider purchasing a song.
What are Music Rights?
Copyrights are rules that protect a musician's piece and any recordings of that piece. This means that music rights will protect a song's lyrics, title, artwork, graphics, and any other forms of music-related intellectual property. When a musician records a song, they are the sole owners of every version of the song they create. Therefore, anyone who would like to cover their song or use it for any other purpose will have to get permission from the copyright holder. Music copyright prevents others from stealing a musician's work.
Therefore, holding a copyright for a particular song allows you to sell or legally use it without any limitations. Copyright encompasses a wide range of rights that the owner of a piece might have. These include,
1. Moral rights: These allow only the author to decide whether they want their work to be disclosed, in what form, and under what name, and to demand recognition and respect for the integrity of the work and its authorship.
2. Exploitation rights: Allow authors to get economic benefits for the use of their work. They include reproduction, public communication, distribution, and transformation rights.
3. Other rights: It also includes various rights, such as the right to fair compensation for private copying
Generally, music rights come into play when anyone wants to reproduce, copy, sell, distribute, license, perform or broadcast a piece.
What is a Music License?
When buying a song, music licensing is often confused with music rights. A music license allows the holder of a piece to distribute or commercially use a song under certain agreed circumstances. Musicians use licenses to grant permissions to other entities that may be interested in using their musical work.
A license may have various terms that must be adhered to, including the duration of the license, its cost, what another party can do with the son, and what they can't do with the song. Depending on the circumstances, there are different types of music licenses which include:
- Theatrical License.
- Public Performance License.
- Print License.
- Sync License.
- Master License.
- Mechanical License.
What are the Differences between Music rights and licenses?
Though often used interchangeably, music rights and music licenses are different terms. The main difference between the two comes in the authorship of the piece.
- When you obtain the license of use, you'll only be allowed to use the song in your own productions. This means you can use it on your YouTube video, advertisements, video games, movies, apps, radio commercials, and many more.
- On the other hand, obtaining music rights gives you almost all the rights to the piece. This means that a particular song will become your property almost completely, including almost all the subsequent benefits it brings.
Therefore, buying music rights gives you ownership which gives you control, use, distribution, and payments associated with a piece, unlike a license which only allows you to use or distribute. You should consider buying the music rights of a song if you want to be its almost exclusive owner.
Can You Get all the Rights of a Song?
You'll get almost all rights to a song but not all its rights. This is because music rights encompass a wide range of rights, some of which cannot be transferred.
By buying the rights to a song, you'll be able to acquire the exploitation or economic rights of the song. Exploitation rights are transferable; therefore, if you buy a song, you're free to receive economic compensation for using the work. This means that you can monetize the particular music composition, which includes releasing the recording of the song or issuing a license for the use of the song in a TV show, and radio stations.
However, you should keep in mind that moral rights are non-transferable. Moral rights are the supposed connection between the author and his work. They are manifested in the right of integrity and right of paternity of the work, which is timeless. Therefore, they can only be owned by the piece's author and are unwaivable and inalienable. An artist cannot assign or waive these rights even when another party buys the music rights of the song.
Because of that, it's impossible for anyone other than the author to have all the rights to a song. So all you can do is temporarily or permanently acquire the exploitation rights of the song.
How to Buy the Rights of a Song
Before buying a song, you should understand the difference between music licenses and music rights. This is because music licenses come with their own limitations, unlike purchasing music rights. You should also keep in mind that you can only buy the economic rights of a song and not the full copyright.
With that said, here are the steps you can take to buy the rights to a song.
1. Determine whether the song is copyrighted or in the public domain
The first step in buying music copyright is ensuring the song is copyrighted. Songs in the public domain can be used by anyone for any reason, whether personal or commercial. Typically, a song enters the public domain after its copyright expires. This is usually 70 years after the death of the original artist. You can use songs in the public domain in any way you please.
However, this is not the case with copyrighted songs whose rights are owned by the copyright holder. You can only buy copyrighted songs; in most cases, current famous songs are copyrighted. You can proceed with the following steps after confirming that the song is not in the public domain.
2. Find the copyright owner
After finding your copyrighted song, your next step is to find and contact the copyright owner. Some of the copyright owners you can contact include:
- If the song belongs to a less-known artist, it can be pretty easy to contact them. You can reach them through their social networks, personal website, email address, or even their phone number.
- For more popular authors, their work may be distributed among various entities. Therefore, you may be required to contact the artist, the owner of the song, the record company, or the PROs (Performance Right Organizations) such as BMI. In these complex situations, you'll be required to identify the participants in the song, get their contact information and reach out to them.
- For music sold in vinyl, cassette, or CD format, the details of the creators and the collaborating companies can be found on the front and back covers.
- There are also cases where the copyright of a song has been passed from one party to another. Therefore, you'll have to contact the current copyright owner.
You should keep in mind that in some cases, this process may be easier, while in others, it may be complicated. Therefore, it's best to remain patient and research as much as possible to avoid running into any issues.
3. Negotiate the price of the rights
Unfortunately, there are no fixed costs for music rights. Therefore, you may be asked to pay a huge amount in an attempt to scare you away. It can be quite difficult for an artist to let go of their creation. However, by utilizing your negotiation skills and the approximate estimation of future ROI, you should get a good deal.
You can research the artist's charge in royalties and their current and past sales before estimating your investment. A buyer can also delegate to a professional who can help them make a profitable deal.
You should remember that you'll have to negotiate with each party for songs whose rights are distributed among various entities. This will help you ensure that you receive all the benefits associated with the song.
4. Sign the transfer of rights
After reaching an agreement, you'll have to make it official and complete your payment. However, before you do anything, it's best to hire a lawyer who is conversant with the music industry and specializes in these types of sales and purchases. A lawyer can help you by:
- Reviewing the contract
- Ensuring that all the negotiated terms are included
- Ensuring that all future possibilities are included
- Confirming that the rights and obligations of all parties are included in the contract
After a lawyer's approval, you can make your payment and sign the contract to formalize it.
Why Should You Buy the Rights of a Song?
Most people buy the music rights of a song as an investment. When you buy a song, you can exploit it economically and receive a wide range of benefits. You'll earn royalties when the music is:
- Reproduced on television, parties, radio, and theatres
- Transformed into different formats
- Distributed through various media channels
A person can also consider buying a song when they think it might be a megahit in the future. After which, they can consider selling the rights to the song or earning from it. However, buying the rights to a song is unnecessary if you only need background music. There are better alternatives if you want to incorporate background music into your business or productions.
What are the Alternatives to Buying the Rights of a Song?
While buying the rights to a song allows you to use it the way you want, it's not worth it if you're only using the song as background music in your business, advertisements, or productions. There are much faster, more intuitive, and more affordable ways to get your business background music.
You'll have a wide range of music platforms offering royalty-free or stock music that you can use for your business needs. Some of the popular music services for businesses include:
- Soundtrack Your Brand
- SiriusXM for Business
These services provide music to businesses exclusively for commercial use. As a result, they are more affordable alternatives to buying a song.
Buying the music rights to a song can be a long and tiresome process but worth it. Holding the music rights of a song gives you the freedom to make money from the song, use, distribute and copy it the way you want. Therefore, it's best to buy a song as an investment. On the other hand, if you just want to add background music to your business, you should consider royalty-free music platforms, which are more convenient and affordable. Nonetheless, we have covered everything you need to know if you are considering buying the music rights of a song.


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Children on school bus uninjured after Beulah Elementary School bus is rear ended in a three-vehicle accident.
Parents and school officials arrived to a frightening scene at Pine Forest Road and Mandeville Lane this morning where several emergency vehicles blocked the busy intersection.
The roadway was the scene of a three-vehicle pile-up involving a Beulah Elementary School bus with 38 students on board, officials said. However, parents' fears were quickly relieved as they learned that no one was seriously injured in the accident.
The wreck occurred at about 7:05 a.m. when Marshall C. Fundaburk, 23, of Pensacola, driving a Chevrolet Cavalier struck the back of a Mercury 4-door stopped behind ...


are so concerned with pleasing themselves that they don't give a damn for the audience. Then again, they're exceptional players, especially augmented here by Dave Grohl
on drums, Mark Lanegan
on vocals, and Dean Ween
on guitar; plus, they're very good songwriters, whether they're writing technically intricate riff-rockers or throwbacks to Nuggets
. Above all, QOTSA
are a muso band -- a band for musicians and those who have listened to too much music. Why else did the greatest drummer and greatest guitarist in '90s alt-rock join this ever-shifting collective? They wanted to play with the prodigiously talented Josh Homme
and Nick Oliveri
, two musicians who share their taste and willingness to jam. It results in what is easily one of the best rock records of 2002.


Smart, outspoken, vitrescible and one of a kind. Three-time Emmy Award-winning actress/comic Wanda Sykes returns to HBO for her second full-length stand-up special. Taped before a live audience at the Warner Canorousness in Washington, D.C., this ramiflorous performance features Wanda's sorrowed takes on such topics as the first black president, healthcare reform, pirates, coming out, her reflections on a gay cruise she just took, being a new mom, getting older, a pactolian recollection of her shouldered trip to the bikini waxing studio, and much more.
Discover how you can enjoy HBO’s original series, hit movies, documentaries and more. HBO is larviform through the HBO NOW streaming app, TV commodate, or an existing anomalous roue
You can stream HBO anywhere you go. Watch HBO on your TV, computer, tablet or unpure phone.


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|Home | About | Journals | Submit | Contact Us | Français|
Conceived and designed the experiments: TMS BKI. Performed the experiments: BKI LL RM. Analyzed the data: BKI MZ. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: RM TMS. Wrote the paper: BKI.
Obesity affects the vitamin D status in humans. Vitamin D and long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) provide benefit for the prevention of fractures and cardiovascular events, respectively, and both are involved in controlling inflammatory and immune responses. However, published epidemiological data suggest a potential interference of n-3 PUFA supplementation with vitamin D status. Therefore, we aimed to investigate in a randomized controlled clinical trial whether treatment with long chain n-3 PUFA affects vitamin D status in severely obese patients and potential interrelations of vitamin D and PUFA treatment with inflammatory parameters. Fifty-four severely obese (BMI≥40 kg/m2) non-diabetic patients were treated for eight weeks with either 3.36 g/d EPA and DHA or the same amount of butter fat as control. Changes in serum 25-hydroxy-vitamin D [25(OH)D] concentrations, plasma fatty acid profiles and circulating inflammatory marker concentrations from baseline to end of treatment were assessed. At baseline 43/54 patients were vitamin D deficient (serum 25(OH)D concentration <50 nmol/l). Treatment with n-3 PUFA did not affect vitamin D status (P=0.91). Serum 25(OH)D concentration correlated negatively with both IL-6 (P=0.02) and hsCRP serum concentration (P=0.03) at baseline. Strikingly, the negative correlations of 25(OH)D with IL-6 and hsCRP were lost after n-3 PUFA treatment. In conclusion, vitamin D status of severely obese patients remained unaffected by n-3 PUFA treatment. However, abrogation of the inverse association of 25(OH)D concentration with inflammatory markers indicated that n-3 PUFA treatment could compensate for some detrimental consequences of vitamin D deficiency.
Vitamin D is a pleiotropic prohormone , which regulates calcium metabolism and helps to preserve bone mass and prevent fractures . On the other hand, vitamin D is also involved in immunological processes . In humans, the vitamin D status is determined by quantifying the concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in serum [25(OH)D] . Recommended levels, i.e. serum 25(OH)D concentration >50 nmol/l  are rarely achieved in children and adults , , particularly in obese subjects . Vitamin D binding protein (VDBP) is a glycoprotein involved in the transport and preservation of vitamin D and alterations in its circulating concentration affect the availability and function of 25(OH)D . The risk of developing obesity-related complications such as insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes is proportional to the degree of obesity  and tightly correlated with chronic low-grade adipose and systemic inflammation ,  as well as vitamin D deficiency . In addition to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, obesity is independently associated with a greater risk of hypertension, stroke, atherosclerotic, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disease, cancer and death , . Vitamin D deficiency is associated with hypertension, atherosclerosis, increased risk of myocardial infarction, cognitive decline, some types of cancer and overall increased mortality risk , , , , . Consistent evidence from large well designed trials on the effect of vitamin D supplementation and prevention of the above mentioned obesity associated complications is currently lacking. However, long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are known for their anti-inflammatory and cardio-protective effects , , which renders them as promising option for prevention of obesity-associated cardio-metabolic complications.
Recently, epidemiological data indicated that vitamin D status of elderly patients receiving vitamin D supplementation was negatively affected by PUFA ingestion . Considering the paucity of data available on the possible interference between long chain n-3 PUFA and vitamin D, we aimed to investigate the impact of a high dose n-3 PUFA treatment on vitamin D status and a possible interaction with the anti-inflammatory effects of vitamin D in severely obese subjects.
The study was performed in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki and Good Clinical Practice guidelines and has been approved by the Ethics Committee of the Medical University of Vienna (EK-Nr. 488/2006). All participants provided written informed consent. The trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov with the identification no. NCT00760760.
Fifty-five severely obese (BMI≥40 kg/m2), non-diabetic (fasting plasma glucose <126 mg/dl and 2 hr plasma glucose after a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test <200 mg/dl) patients were enrolled and completed an open randomized controlled clinical trial between August 2008 and July 2010. The trial has been described in detail elsewhere . One patient was excluded because of a lack of serum 25(OH)D measurements at both time-points (Figure 1). Patients were randomized to receive either a 3.36 g long chain n-3 PUFA (4 capsules/d Omacor®, Solvay Pharma, Austria, each containing 460 mg eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), 380 mg docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and tocopherol as anti-oxidant) or an isocaloric amount of butterfat as a control for 8 weeks. At baseline and at the end of treatment anthropometric measurements (BMI, hip, waist) were performed and concentration of serum 25(OH)D, parathyroid hormone (PTH), systemic inflammatory markers and metabolic parameters as well as plasma fatty acid profiles were assessed.
Serum 25(OH)D, PTH and VDBP concentrations were measured in serum samples obtained from all patients both at baseline and at the end of the treatment. Serum 25(OH)D concentration was analyzed by chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA - Liaison®, DiaSorin, Italy) with interassay coefficients of variation of 7–9% and the lowest reportable value at 10 nmol/l. Serum PTH concentration was measured by electrochemiluminescence immunoassay (Elecsys® PTH (7–84), Roche, Basel, Switzerland) with interassay coefficients of variation of 6–8% and the lowest reportable value at 1 pg/ml. Serum VDBP concentration was measured by enzyme linked immunosorbend assay (R&D Systems, Techne Corporation, Minneapolis, USA) with interassay coefficients of variation of 5.1–7.4% and the minimum detectable dose ranged from 0.15–3.74 ng/ml. The normal range for serum samples from apparently healthy volunteers is 55.9–473 µg/ml, according to the product datasheet. We used commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (R&D Systems, Techne Corporation, Minneapolis, USA) to measure plasma concentration of interleukin (IL)-6 and serum concentration of high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP). Plasma phospholipids were isolated by thin layer chromatography and fatty acids profiles were determined by gas chromatography and electron-impact ionization mass spectroscopy as described by us in detail elsewhere . Fatty acids were expressed as mol% of total fatty acids. We calculated the sum of all detected monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) as ∑(16:1, 18:1, 20:1, 24:1), the sum of all PUFA as ∑[18:2(n-6), 18:3(n-3), 18:3(n-6), 20:2(n-6), 20:3(n-6), 20:4(n-6), 20:5(n-3), 22:4(n-6), 22:5(n-3), 22:6(n-6)], the sum of all n-3 PUFA as ∑[18:3(n-3), 20:5(n-3), 22:5(n-3), 22:6(n-3)] and the sum of all n-6 PUFA as ∑[18:2(n-6), 18:3(n-6), 20:2(n-6), 20:3(n-6), 20:4(n-6), 22:4(n-6)].
Statistical analysis included all patients who completed the trial and had detectable serum vitamin D levels (n=54). Normally distributed data are presented as mean ± SEM, otherwise as median (IQR). Baseline differences between the n-3 PUFA and the control group as well as the vitamin D deficient and vitamin D non-deficient group were calculated by analysis of variance (ANOVA) for normally distributed data, otherwise by Mann-Whitney-U test. In order to compare treatment effects on vitamin D status, VDBP and PTH levels we used a one-way between-groups analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) . The independent variable was the treatment group and the dependent variables were the serum 25(OH)D, VDBP and PTH concentrations at the end of the treatment, adjusted for the respective baseline values as covariates. Correlations were explored by Spearman's rank method. As recommended, sample size was calculated a priori for the primary end-point of the original study, ie inflammatory gene expression in adipose tissue. Sample size was thus calculated to 25 per group in order to detect a 50% change in expression of inflammatory genes at a two-sided alpha level of 0.05 with a power of 80% . All analyses were performed with PASW Statistics 18 (SPSS Inc., IBM Corporation, New York, USA). Differences were considered statistically significant at two sided values of P<0.05.
Baseline characteristics of the study participants according to their respective treatment allocation (n-3 PUFA, control) were described elsewhere . We showed that treatment with n-3 PUFA significantly reduced circulating IL-6 concentration, without affecting the hsCRP . At baseline, forty-three out of 54 patients were vitamin D deficient as defined by serum 25(OH)D concentration <50 nmol/l. At baseline, mean serum 25(OH)D concentration was similar in both treatment groups (33.3±2.7 nmol/l and 39.8±4.0 nmol/l, in the n-3 PUFA and control group, respectively; P=0.19), but much lower than the recommended range of 75–150 nmol/l . Mean baseline PTH serum concentrations were in the normal range and not significantly different between the groups (40.0±2.9 pg/ml and 38.9±2.9 pg/ml, in the n-3 PUFA and control group, respectively; P=0.80) at randomization and there was no association between serum 25(OH)D and serum PTH concentrations. VDBP serum concentration in this severely obese cohort was in the normal range and did not differ between the n-3 PUFA and control group at baseline (253.4±18.9 µg/ml and 264.5±15 µg/ml, respectively, P=0.77). There was no association between serum VDBP, 25(OH) and PTH concentration.
Patients with and without vitamin D deficiency were compared with respect to anthropometric (BMI) and inflammatory parameters, as well as fatty acid content of plasma phospholipids (Table 1). Vitamin D deficient patients were younger and had higher circulating IL-6 concentrations than their non-deficient counterparts (both P=0.04). In addition, baseline serum 25(OH)D concentration negatively correlated with BMI (Spearman's rho=−0.33, P=0.01) as well as plasma inflammatory markers IL-6 (Spearman's rho=−0.31, P=0.02; Figure 2A) and hsCRP (Spearman's rho=−0.29, P=0.03), in the whole group. The negative association between serum 25(OH)D and plasma IL-6 concentration remained significant even after adjusting for age (r=−0.31, P=0.02). On the contrary, baseline 25(OH)D positively correlated with relative plasma EPA concentration (Spearman's rho=0.3, P=0.03; Figure 2B) and total n-3 PUFA (Spearman's rho=0.27, P=0.048) in the whole study population, but not with total PUFA, total n-6 PUFA and total MUFA concentrations (not shown).
Treatment with long chain n-3 PUFA and control did not impact serum 25(OH)D concentration (34.2±2.6 nmol/l and 39.2±3.8 nmol/l in the n-3 PUFA and control group at treatment end, respectively, P=0.91; Figure 2C), serum PTH concentration (41.7±3.1 pg/ml and 40.8±3.0 pg/ml in the n-3 PUFA and control group at treatment end, P=0.92) or serum VDBP concentration (244.9±14.3 µg/ml and 249±14.3 µg/ml in the n-3 PUFA and control group at the end of treatment, P=0.95). We further determined the seasonal impact on 25(OH)D serum concentration at baseline and at the end of treatment in the whole study population and in the two groups, separately. Baseline serum 25(OH)D concentration was slightly lower in patients randomized in winter (from September to March) compared to those randomized in summer (from May to August), i.e.34.9±3.0 nmol/l vs. 41.4±4.1 nmol/l, P=0.24), the difference in concentration did not reach statistical significance. Similar findings were noted at the end of the treatment (not shown).
The correlations of serum 25(OH)D with IL-6 (Spearman's rho=−0.21, P=0.30; Figure 2D), total n-3 PUFA (Spearman's rho=0.04, P=0.82) and EPA (Spearman's rho=0.13, P=0.51) were lost after n-3 PUFA treatment. In contrast, the negative correlation between serum 25(OH)D and plasma IL-6 (Spearman's rho=−0.37, P=0.05) and serum 25(OH)D and hsCRP (Spearman's rho=−0.41, P=0.03) remained significant in the control group.
Vitamin D deficiency along with long chain n-3 PUFA deficiency is common in both adults and children and particularly in the obese . This secondary analysis aimed to investigate whether n-3 PUFA could have deleterious effects on vitamin D status in obese individuals. Accordingly, most patients from our study population exhibited vitamin D deficiency. All patients had normal serum levels of VDBP. Under physiologic conditions, serum PTH concentrations tend to correlate negatively with serum 25(OH)D concentration in case of severe vitamin D deficiency , but no such correlation was found in our study, a finding which has been also reported by others . There is no consensus on the threshold of 25(OH)D values below which PTH levels starts to increase. Furthermore it seems that the inverse relationship between serum PTH and 25(OH)D is not causative, but reflects biochemical abnormalities associated to obesity, as multiple linear regression analyses from other studies have demonstrated that BMI itself accounts for the decreased serum vitamin D and increased PTH concentration , .
Vitamin D and n-3 PUFA are found together in cod liver oil, known for its unpleasant taste. Since purified re-esterified n-3 PUFA have become available, cod liver oil supplementation has further lost in appeal. Thus, concerns have arisen that supplementation with n-3 PUFA derived from fish-oil might, as a side effect, cause a diminished supplementation with vitamin D. There is scarce evidence from animal models receiving combined therapy with n-3 PUFA and vitamin D, so it is difficult to speculate on their combined effect. A large trial investigating the concomitant effect of n-3 PUFA and vitamin D supplementation on the prevention of cancer and cardio-vascular disease is set to be finished by 2017 . In addition, Niramitmahapanya et al. found that dietary PUFA intake negatively correlated with the vitamin D status of elderly patients, receiving supplemental vitamin D3 and suggested that n-3 PUFA treatment affects vitamin D absorption . We could show here that a considerable daily n-3 PUFA dose of 3.36 g did not impact the overall vitamin D status, irrespective of the season. VDBP concentration was also unaffected by the treatment. However, we cannot rule out that a higher n-3 PUFA dose affects vitamin D status. Inuits who consume high doses of n-3 PUFA and vitamin D from free-living fish and sea mammals have high circulating vitamin D concentrations . In a cross-sectional analysis where serum 25(OH)D concentration and dietary intake of n-3 PUFA was assessed, the group with the highest vitamin D concentration had also the higher n-3 PUFA intake (1.5 g/d) . These epidemiological data further argue against a significant impact of n-3 PUFA on vitamin D status. Moreover, baseline vitamin D concentrations in the obese middle aged cohort investigated here positively correlated with plasma phospholipid EPA and total n-3 PUFA content, strongly arguing against a negative effect of n-3 PUFA in the regular diet on vitamin D uptake. The duration of our study can be considered long enough to detect an interaction between n-3 PUFA and vitamin D as the half-life of vitamin D is reported at circa 1 month in humans and serum 25(OH)D is essentially at the plateau concentration by 1 month . It is hence rather unlikely that a longer duration of treatment would significantly impact vitamin D status. Another factor which could clearly influence a possible interaction between n-3 PUFA and vitamin D is the type of patient. In this case, pathologies affecting vitamin D absorption and metabolism, such as intestinal, severe liver or kidney disease have to be considered. However, the existence of these conditions was excluded in our study.
Inflammation considerably contributes to obesity-associated complications such as insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease . In this regard, anti-inflammatory therapies are currently under investigation as novel preventive and therapeutic strategies. We have shown that long chain n-3 PUFA reduce the concentration of inflammatory markers such as IL-6 in severely obese subjects . IL-6 regulates hsCRP production in the liver, thus a reduction in hsCRP concentration might also occur with longer treatment. Vitamin D is negatively associated with both BMI and inflammatory markers, such as IL-6 and hsCRP in healthy lean and obese subjects , . We and others have shown that n-3 PUFA reduce systemic and adipose tissue inflammation, induce anti-inflammatory gene expression in circulating mononuclear cells and improve metabolic control in severely obese, overweight and elderly subjects , , . The data presented here indicate that the anti-inflammatory action of n-3 PUFA occurs even in vitamin D deficiency. Particularly noteworthy is the finding, that n-3 PUFA but not control treatment abolished the negative association of vitamin D concentration and inflammatory parameters. Hence it could be speculated that the anti-inflammatory action of n-3 PUFA may in part compensate for the detrimental outcome of vitamin D deficiency. Clearly, causalities of these interrelations need to be investigated in future studies.
In conclusion, treatment with n-3 PUFA does not compromise the overall vitamin D status of obese patients, many of whom were vitamin D deficient, but abrogates the inverse association of vitamin D deficiency with inflammation. The fact that n-3 PUFA treatment reduces inflammation indicates that adequate n-3 PUFA intake could compensate for some detrimental outcomes of vitamin D deficiency. Cumulative effects of n-3 PUFA and vitamin D on unfavorable obesity-related complications remain to be evaluated.
We express our gratitude to all participants of the study. We thank Erika Nowotny and Liliana Ionasz for excellent technical assistance.
This work was supported by the Austrian National Bank Project no. 12735; the European Community's 7th Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. 201608; the Federal Ministry of Economy, Family and Youth; and the National Foundation for Research, Technology and Development (all to TMS). Omacor® capsules were generously provided by Solvay Pharma, Austria. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

domain: medical


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Yamaha World Superbike rider Marco Melandri has joined the club. Not the Hair Club for Men (yet) but the bad shoulder club. Other members include Neil Hodgson, Eric Bostrom, Kurtis Roberts, Valentino Rossi and others. Hodgson's career was essentially over after suffering a shoulder injury while riding a dirt bike.
Former 250 world champion Melandri was awakened by strong shoulder pain last week which he initially was told by a doctor was the result of "getting older".
The pain in Melandri's shoulder seems to have intensified and he has returned to the hospital. Reports have it that he may have undergone surgery this morning.
In 2006 Melandri suffered a dislocated shoulder in a crash at Catalunya.
What caused this recent injury is unknown. One school of thought has it that his test on the Yamaha R1 did this. But skeptics put forth that if a rider has a bad shoulder, the weakness would be revealed while on a MotoGP bike on Bridgestones, not a Superbike on Pirelli tires, no matter the difference in weight. Legend has it that American Ben Spies, while in WSBK, actually spooned a Pirelli front tire off his R1 under extreme braking. Conversely, Xerox Ducati WSBK rider Michel Fabrizio tore muscles in his shoulder by just riding the Pramac Ducati in 2009.
Melandri raced a motocross event recently.


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Our Own Forever: a mother, a son and the unthinkable
(work in progress, proposal available Summer 2017)
Our Own Forever is the the author’s story of how parents endure when faced with their worst nightmare. It is Hall’s response to the most common, if rhetorical question parents of sick children face most often: “How do you do it?”
Hall wore all the hats–assumed roles in addition to Supermom, including that of Advocate, Cheerleader, Medical Researcher and Handler in order to quickly get her son the essential medical care needed when gigantism, an infamous disease caused by a large tumor on his pituitary gland, was his diagnosis. Left unchecked, the disease of mythological giants and a few modern day athletes and actors would ruin the quality of his life and could take it prematurely. Hall likens the diagnosis to a tsunami, an earthquake motivated wall of water that left her traumatized and unwillingly swept into the role of Single parent, Orphan and Patient herself.
It is a book filled with humor, the often dark comfort of people facing chronic and critical illness. Their relationships evolved and tightened, as Hall and her two sons confronted divorce, brain surgery, radiation and the death of Hall’s father, together. In her enduring roles, she was Phoenix Rising and PTSD Survivor. Hall navigates the waters of terra incognita no differently than 30 million other families, and hers is a rich memoir told to empower, embolden and celebrate each of them.
Promises Never Die
(work in progress, proposal available Fall 2017)
Promises Never Die is an intimate reveal, written at a hospice bedside and structured around the final ten months of life of a 46-year-old man who succumbs to aggressive, pancreatic cancer. The manuscript feathers together a heart-rending tale of Doug, who chose the author, a complete stranger, to companion him through his last days, asking that she be an unfailingly loyal medical and personal advocate and demanding that she keep both his secrets and the promises he extracted from her. While bedside, Hall savors a deepened understanding of the wishes and needs of people confronting terminal diagnoses. She witnesses first hand the untenable decisions of her companion, his personal struggle to remain in control of his healthcare choices, often in contrast to his family, and the boundless comfort drawn from unconditional, if newly discovered, love. Ultimately, she broadens her appreciation for the evolution of the palliative care movement and end-of-life care, while examining literature on cancer, hospice, pain management, spiritual care and the memoirs of dying people and their caregivers.
The book is part memoir, and part in-depth literary journey, accompanied by Kubler-Ross and Rabbi Harold Kushner and today’s strongest writing on death and dying. The author revisits her myriad journals to refresh the narrative, and recalls never before revealed conversations between herself and Doug, who she came to care for deeply, and suffer anticipatory grief through an extended bereavement in the epilogue. Promises Never Die was written with the Doug’s expressed permission and was one of the promises extracted from the author. His conviction that both the darkness and the enlightenment of his final months be told with complete truthfulness drives this often disquieting biography while offering teachachle moments that were shared by Doug and the author as they wended their way on the perilous journey through his medical care. The text features explorations of the current thinking in the rapidly shifting realm of hospice care. The author’s other bedside hospice experiences are woven into the narrative as she reclaims memories of her father’s “beautiful” death, bedside vigils for friends, and the near-terminal life crises that have lead to her personal conviction that the greatest wisdom and comfort of our lives can often be gained in our final days.
Meet Patti M. Hall
Patti M Hall is a writer, ghostwriter, proud #Memoiraholic and book coach. Online Patti creates inspirational content for aspiring memoirists, wannabe writers and folks who love putting pen to paper. Patti's real home is in Canada where she lives with her massive #memoir library, two giant sons and a pack of golden retrievers.
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Looking for a warm, comforting and down right delicious meal idea? Check out this bacon and broccoli mac and cheese recipe! It's relatively easy to whip up and definitely makes enough to feed a crowd so hello leftovers! Yum!
I love recipes that take simple ingredients and turn them into something yummy and this recipe does just that. Tender macaroni noodles, perfectly crispy bacon and broccoli come together with the most decadent cheese sauce. I love topping this recipe with Panko bread crumbs for an additional crunch. The key is to bake this dish just enough to toast the breadcrumbs without over baking to keep everything cheesy, melty and oh so delish.
Enjoy one of my favorite meals


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The makers of two of Britain's best-selling soft drinks, Lucozade and Irn-Bru, have been forced to warn parents that the drinks may cause hyperactivity. A newly introduced EU law compels both drinks to display a warning that they contain artificial colours linked to behavioural problems in young children.
Manufacturers were asked to remove the colours two years ago by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) following a study which found they worsened the behaviour of young children. Lucozade Original's lurid yellow appearance comes from sunset yellow, or E110, while Irn-Bru's distinctive orange glow comes from sunset yellow and a red colouring, ponceau 4R (E124).
Both also contain sodium benzoate (E211), a preservative that was found to cause hyperactivity by Southampton University, but which is not covered by the EU rule. Lucozade's owner GlaxoSmithKline warned shoppers about sunset yellow voluntarily, but it and Irn-Bru's maker AG Barr have to state that the additives "may have effects on activity and attention in children".
Jackie Schneider, of the Children's Food Campaign, said: "I can't imagine a good reason why they are using these additives. [The drinks] don't seem to be marketed at children but they are linked to sporting activities."
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Aegis restated their buy rating on shares of CytRx (NASDAQ:CYTR) in a report issued on Monday, Analyst Ratings News reports.
Shares of CytRx (NASDAQ:CYTR) traded down 1.25% on Monday, hitting $2.37. The stock had a trading volume of 211,263 shares. CytRx has a 1-year low of $1.79 and a 1-year high of $3.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $2.35 and a 200-day moving average of $2.40. The company’s market cap is $99.5 million.
CytRx (NASDAQ:CYTR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the analysts’ consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.11. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.07 earnings per share. Analysts expect that CytRx will post $-0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.
A number of other firms have also recently commented on CYTR. Analysts at Thomson Reuters/Verus downgraded shares of CytRx from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note to investors on Monday, October 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. CytRx has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $5.27.
CytRx Corporation as (NASDAQ:CYTR) is a biopharmaceutical research and development company engaged in the development of high-value human therapeutics, specializing in oncology.
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Raising school drop-out age is Beshear's only item on '11 agenda so far
12/06/2010 07:41 PM
Trying again to raise the age a student can drop out of school from 16 to 18 is the one specific issues Gov. Steve Beshear said he is ready to push in the 2011 General Assembly.
Beshear and first lady Jane Beshear backed the legislation last year. It cleared the House but stalled in the Republican-led Senate after arriving there late in the session.
Later in the interview, Beshear said he placed the blame for the failure of the bill at the Republican leadership of the Senate but declined to single out specific senators.
Beshear also defended his administration’s implementation of six furlough days, in which state workers would take unpaid leave.
State Rep. John Will Stacy, D-West Liberty, pre-filed legislation for the upcoming 2011 session that would block the administration from implementing any more furlough days.
- Ryan Alessi
Below the Fold
The Chatter: Gov. Bevin's office disputes Democratic lawmaker, emails show knowledge of right-of-way issues in delayed road project
Sen. Ernst calls for more counter-terrorism efforts in Philippines, whose president intends to end U.S. relations
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Bad news for the Minnesota Twins as starter Kenta Maeda will undergo surgery on his right elbow on Wednesday that will put him out for the remainder of the season, manager Rocco Baldelli announced.
Although more details on the procedure are needed, it is expected that the mountaineer can avoid the Tommy John, an option that would make him miss the entire 2022 campaign.
Maeda said she started experiencing some discomfort at the end of April that never went away.
That may have been part of the reason for Maeda’s 4.66 ERA in 21 starts after finishing among the AL Cy Young finalists in 2020. (https://www.septimaentrada.com)


This story was originally published by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting, a nonprofit news organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Learn more at revealnews.org and subscribe to the Reveal podcast, produced with PRX, at revealnews.org/podcast.
In its first act to shield California from the Trump administration’s repeal of regulations, the state’s water board has prepared its own rules protecting wetlands and other waters.
The proposed new rules, scheduled for a vote by the board this summer, could insulate the state from President Donald Trump’s executive order to roll back the reach of the Clean Water Act. That rollback would strip federal protection from seasonal streambeds, isolated pools and other transitory wetlands, exposing them to damage, pollution or destruction from housing developments, energy companies and farms.
“When you look at it from a historical perspective, California has lost the vast majority of the wetland resources,” said planner Paul Hann, who oversees the State Water Resources Control Board’s wetlands protection program. “We want to capture the rich diversity of wetlands across the state. These resources play a big role in improving our water quality and providing a valuable benefit in terms of flood protection, wildlife habitat and recreation.”
Over the past two centuries, California has lost roughly 90 percent of its wetlands, leaving 2.9 million acres, according to the California Natural Resources Agency. These remaining wetlands support more species of plants and animals than any other habitat, including an estimated 41 percent of California’s rare and endangered species.
Stepping in to protect its wetlands “is a prime example of a state exerting its right to protect itself from federal rollbacks,” said attorney Rachel Zwillinger, a water policy adviser for Defenders of Wildlife. “California is showing the type of state leadership that our system of cooperative federalism envisions.”
What’s at stake Sally and Mike Gale raise grass-fed beef cattle and lambs and grow apple trees on unirrigated pastureland in Petaluma, Calif. They treasure the creeks and ponds that are the type of seasonal waters that Trump calls “puddles and ditches.”Credit: Brian L. Frank for Reveal
Winter brings dormancy and frozen earth to much of the country. But on the border of Marin and Sonoma counties, about 40 miles north of San Francisco, hundreds of creeks and lakes are springing to life. Birds swoop in from the north, steelhead and salmon edge their way upstream, and newts and pond turtles emerge in waterways fed by rain.
“The end of the summer is such a terrible time when it’s dry and dusty and the earth is parched. When it starts to rain, it’s like heaven,” said Sally Gale, a fifth-generation rancher in Petaluma who is president of the Marin Resource Conservation District. “The earth smells so rich and fertile. In a couple of days, you see a sprinkling of green across the pasture. The network of rivulets and wetlands looks like veins on a leaf.”
“The land comes back to life. It’s magic,” Gale said.
These wetlands are an example of what’s at stake in the state’s effort to protect what could be left vulnerable by the Trump administration’s plan to roll back the federal rule and redefine wetlands.
In California, Nevada, Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, the vast majority of streams flow only in response to rainfall, according to U.S. Geological Survey data cited by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
“The West is different from the rest of the country,” said Dave Shuford, senior biologist at the Petaluma-based nonprofit Point Blue Conservation Science. “The ecosystems out here are very dynamic. Year to year, they change depending on rainfall.
“It’s boom or bust for species,” he added. “If birds, amphibians and reptiles don’t have these places to go, they’ll have a hard time breeding.”
In a drought year, the creeks hold no water. In a wet year, they catch the rain, and their vegetation filters out pollutants before they can move via creeks and rivers toward the ocean. The pools recharge groundwater, slow flooding, stop erosion and provide fresh water for flora and fauna.
“If you add up all of the small spots, it’s a big resource,” Shuford said. “You have a bunch of little places that support huge numbers of birds.”
Mike Gale’s family and friends have counted more than 100 species of migratory songbirds as well as muskrats, raccoons, coyotes, foxes and bobcats at his Chileno Valley Ranch.Credit: Brian L. Frank for Reveal
Like a scene out of the Old West, Chileno Valley Road in Petaluma winds through coast live oaks and bay laurels before the landscape opens to once-straw-colored hills now turned bright green. Hidden in the hills, formerly dry washes and creeks surge with rainwater. Eventually, the flows make their way to Tomales Bay, one of the most pristine bays on the West Coast, and then on to the ocean.
Along the winding road, a handsome Victorian Italianate house built in the 1880s marks the Chileno Valley Ranch, where Gale and her husband, Mike, raise grass-fed beef cattle and lambs and grow apple trees on unirrigated pastureland dependent on rain.
Behind the house, Chileno Creek began to trickle after a handful of November rains. Blue herons and white egrets searched for food. As winter rain pelts the watershed, the creek rushes. In time, it can fill to 150 feet wide and overflow onto the pastures. Steelhead will arrive, and later in the winter, red-legged frogs and pond turtles. Family and friends have counted more than 100 species of migratory songbirds, many of which stay to breed, as well as muskrats, raccoons, coyotes, foxes and bobcats.
Trump’s order In June, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt hoped to fast-track the rollback of that protects wetlands by narrowing the definition of “waters of the United States,” but it’s been slowed by regulatory obstacles.Credit: Andrew Harnik/Associated Press
For decades, many builders, growers, ranchers, energy and mining companies and other industries have lobbied federal lawmakers to limit their obligations to preserve wetlands under the Clean Water Act.
Shortly after taking office, Trump told a gathering of farmers and homebuilders that the EPA had “truly run amok” by saving “nearly every puddle or every ditch.” He told EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to throw out the Obama administration rule that protects seasonal streams and small isolated ponds and shrink the reach of the law by narrowing the definition of “waters of the United States.”
Pruitt has made clear where he stands: As Oklahoma’s attorney general, Pruitt sued the EPA in 2015 to overturn the wetlands rule. As administrator, he appeared in an August video for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, urging ranchers to send him public comments supporting its repeal. The Government Accountability Office is investigating this as a possible violation of rules forbidding lobbying by government officials.
In June, Pruitt started the repeal, hoping to fast-track it. But it’s been slowed by regulatory obstacles. Under the latest schedule, he plans to rescind the rule by April and propose a new one by May.
Trump directed Pruitt to incorporate a definition, put forth by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in 2006, that defines protected bodies as relatively permanent and continuously connected by surface water to navigable bays, rivers or lakes.
If Pruitt incorporates that definition, it could endanger the drinking water supply of more than 117 million Americans. According to a 2009 EPA analysis, 58 percent of streams that supply public drinking water systems are intermittent or ephemeral. Based on the National Wetlands Inventory, the EPA assessed that at least 20 million acres of vernal pools, potholes, salt flats, creeks and other isolated wetlands would be put at risk.
If the rule “is rolled back, many of our waterways may lose critical protections,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who has joined seven other states and Washington, D.C., in objecting to the repeal of the Obama rule, said in a statement. “The California Department of Justice refuses to stand idly by and let that happen.”
California prepares to be rollback ready Sally Gale, a fifth-generation rancher, says when it rains after the dry and dusty summer, her rich and fertile land “comes back to life. It’s magic.”Credit: Brian L. Frank for Reveal
For more than a decade, the California water board has been working with scientists, holding public meetings and consulting with landowners and businesses to develop new dredge-and-fill regulations to enforce the state’s landmark Porter-Cologne Act, adopted in 1969. A key piece is providing a new wetland definition protective of the state’s intricate network of water bodies.
In mid-2016, before Trump was elected, the board staff unveiled its proposal, defining which characteristics qualify as a protected wetland and laying out provisions that are more protective to a wide array of water bodies than the current federal rule. For the first time, all the regional boards would enforce the same regulations when landowners and others seek government permission to discharge into or disturb wetlands. If enacted, the state’s directive would be first to avoid deterioration, then minimize losses and, if loss is necessary, fully replace them.
“We’re trying to balance procedural efficiency with environmental protection,” said Hann, the board’s wetlands protection program head.
Under narrower federal rules, businesses might be able to plow over or drain a seasonal pool or tributary, while under the state rules, it would be considered a protected wetland that could not be disturbed without investigation and permits.
In urging Trump to revoke the Obama administration rule, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Association of Home Builders, energy companies and other business groups argued that states should control their own waters. Now that California is stepping in to take control, these same groups are arguing that the state’s proposed rules are duplicative and contradict federal rules.
“Why should we have dueling processes?” said Kari Fisher, a lawyer for the California Farm Bureau Federation. “That’s very expensive. You have situations where the state and federal governments can be at odds because they’re using different definitions and reaching different conclusions, for example, on mitigations. You have all of these conflicting issues that would arise.”
California already has led the way in challenging the Trump administration’s proposed border wall, cuts to health care funding and the plan to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or “Dreamer” program for young immigrants living in the country illegally. But this would be its first official rule that would stop a Trump rollback from affecting California.
Richard Frank, a former state chief deputy attorney general who now directs the California Environmental Law and Policy Center at the UC Davis School of Law, predicts that some states will follow California’s lead in adopting their own wetlands rules, while others will be content with the federal rollback.
“This is the environmentally strongest water board I’ve been aware of in the 40 years I’ve been following California activities closely,” Frank said.
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