Barcoded spores technology could improve emergency response to biological attack

Barcoded spores technology furthers emergency response efforts by expanding testing opportunities across research communities and optimizing data gathering efforts.

ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. – It looks like anthrax. It resembles most of the physical properties of the Bacillus anthracis bacteria. It even has a genetic make-up similar to that of the deadly pathogen, and most importantly, it makes hardy, durable spores like its virulent cousin. But it is not anthrax. It is an imposter that is being used as a simulant in a groundbreaking effort at the U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center (ECBC) to improve emergency preparedness in the event of a biological attack.

The simulant, Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies kurstaki (Btk), is safe, found in nature and is available to the public at garden supply stores as a gypsy moth caterpillar control agent in organic farming. For Henry S. Gibbons, Ph.D., research microbiologist at ECBC, it is the cornerstone of his group’s work with a barcoded spore technology that uses small genetic signatures to track and identify the simulant spores during large-scale outdoor testing. Monitoring the transportation patterns of simulant strains that mimic the behavior of actual anthrax spores increases the quality of data gathered by researchers, which could eventually be used to help mitigate the costs of clean-up and the extent of social disruption in the event of a real world biological attack.

“The barcoded spore technology helps us prepare for the eventuality of an attack. If we get hit again with something, we will have a better sense of where to clean it up, where it is likely to go, where to focus our emergency response efforts and determine what areas are at greatest risk,” explained Gibbons.

Each genetic signature, or barcode, contains common and specific tags that are integrated into neutral regions of the DNA of the simulant Btk for tracking. ECBC researchers are able to detect and discriminate the barcoded strains from wild-type strains as well as from each other, which enables large-scale testing that could sample more than a dozen pieces of information and dramatically optimize data gathering.

Previous data gathering methods used by ECBC at the Edgewood Area of the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. were expensive, labor intensive and involved more than 50 people to set up the outdoor detectors, which collected a limited amount of information in a single test. According to Gibbons, the barcoded spore technology simplifies collection efforts, reduces testing costs and improves the control of previous uncontrollable variables that affect how bacterial spores behave when discharged in an open environment. Large-scale testing could now give researchers the opportunity to trace the simulant in more populous locations such as city subways or residential suburbs.

The simulant Btk strains used in the barcoded spore testing were selected by ECBC because of the Center’s commitment to safely conducting projects in an environmentally sound manner. The simulant is an ingredient registered with the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and found in common commercial products such as Dipel or Thuricide pest control, which is sold online and across the country at garden supply stores. The kind of large-scale testing in various conditions that Gibbons is striving for is a direct result of the heightened safety measures his team uses on a daily basis, with the EPA-registered Btk strain living at the core of the work.

“Better testing methods under multiple conditions can help improve our predictive models for different potential biothreat scenarios,” said Gibbons. “We’re hoping that we have a technology in these barcoded spores that can actually allow some testing on either mock structures or various test beds where people can do some of these modeling studies with an organism that is relatively representative of what they would find in actual virulent Bacillus anthracis.”

This new technology could be a tremendous asset to clean-up efforts in the wake of a future biological attack, he said, recalling how swabbing representative areas of various locations during the 2001 anthrax attack was the only effective way to track the pathogen during its outbreak through the U.S. Postal Service more than a decade ago. It marked the country’s first case of bioterrorism when contaminated letters were mailed to congressional leaders and members of the news media. Gibbons called the Amerithrax events, as it was classified by the FBI, “one of the major catalysts for the expansion of the biodefense industry as we know it today.”

“One of the problems that came out of the aftermath of the anthrax attacks was we didn’t have a good sense of where to look for these spores and how to track them. We still don’t have a very good sense for how long they’ll last in a given environment,” said Gibbons. “Anthrax has stunningly long term viability and that’s one of the problems of the anthrax clean-up. The current standards for clean is there are no spores in a given location, but how do you certify that? Do you swab every centimeter of every surface?”

The work being done by Gibbons and his team furthers emergency response efforts with a barcoded spore technology that expands testing opportunities across research communities. The vast amount of information collected and data gathered could have a monumental impact on how first responders, medical personnel and decontamination teams operate during a potential crisis and future attack.

As a premier Center that specializes in solutions to counter chemical biological threats to U.S. forces and the nation, ECBC’s best offense is a good defense. In order to prepare for the worst-case scenario, the Center is continuing extensive research and engineering innovative technologies that unite and inform the national defense community.

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Researcher Kira Westaway uses a drill to remove a core sample from a stalagmite taken from a cave near Liang Bua. Stalagmites form when rain seeps through rock crevices above a cave and drips onto the floor, where minerals in the water pile up to form calcified mounds. By dating the stalagmite and analyzing its oxygen and carbon composition, Westaway and other scientists working on Flores hope to find clues to the climate and vegetation of the site when Homo floresiensis lived there.

Could this be the face—shown life-size—of a lost human species that stood three feet tall and inhabited an isolated island world?

Synthetic skin and hair bring to life the cast of an 18,000-year-old skull of a female. Her remains were found with those of six other tiny beings on Flores, where they hunted creatures from giant rats to Komodo dragons and made stone tools—all with brains smaller than a chimp's.

Miniature beings with skulls far smaller than our own sprang from an ancient line of human ancestors. How did they reach—and survive on—a remote Indonesian island?

Thomas Sutikna of the Indonesian Centre for Archaeology holds a skull that he and fellow scientists believe represents a new human species, Homo floresiensis. Found in a cave on Flores (map), the species existed alongside modern humans as recently as 13,000 years ago, yet may descend from Homo erectus, which arose some two million years ago.

No ancient humans could have reached flores before big-brained modern people—or so it seemed.

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Security Quiz

Quiz: IPsec vs. SSL VPNs

VPNs made headlines this week with a report of a severe flaw in a protocol that IPsec VPNs rely on. Test your knowledge of IPsec and SSL VPNs with this quiz, and

    Requires Free Membership to View

click through to our additional resources to help you determine which technology best suits your organization's needs.

1.) Which type of VPN encryption sets up a secure, encrypted link between two points, but does not encrypt the headers of the data packets?
a. Transport encryption
b. Tunneling encryption

2.) Which of the following is a basic requirement of an SSL VPN?
a. Proxy access and protocol conversion
b. Remote-access orientation
c. Extranet support
d. Highly granular access controls
e. All of the above

3.) In which scenario is an IPsec VPN generally considered a better solution than an SSL VPN for remote access?
a. Telecommuters coming from fixed sites, using managed corporate devices and terminating in a secure, private network on either side.
b. Telecommuters without fixed access who want to come in from a variety of sites.

4.) Which layer of the network does an IPsec VPN operate on?
a. Layer 3
b. Layer 4
c. Layers 4 though 7
d. None of the above

5.) Which of the following operational modes is the simplest and most usable, as well as the most supported by SSL VPNs?
a. Application translation
b. Port forwarding
c. Proxy
d. Network extension

6.) Which of the following describes an IPsec VPN?
a. Requires host-based clients and hardware at a central location. Users have full office functionality, but there's very little granularity in access control.
b. Does not require a client download. Remote connections made via a Web browser or a downloadable Java or ActiveX agent. Role-based access can be assigned for each user, and application and client administration is eliminated.

7.) True or False: SSL VPNs are inherently less secure than IPsec VPNs.
a. True
b. False

8.) Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) allows for...
a. Authentication of the sender of data
b. Encryption of the data
c. Both authentication of the sender and encryption of the data
d. None of the above

9.) Which of the following features of SSL VPNs help avoid the risk of leaving sensitive information on public PCs used to access a corporate network?
a. Secure logout
b. Credential scrubbing
c. Auto forms completion disabling
d. All of the above

10.) What is the transmission of data through a public network in such a way that the routing nodes in the public network are unaware that the transmission is part of a private network?
a. Tunneling
b. Virtual private network
c. Output feedback
d. Promiscuous mode

How'd you score?
9-10 correct: VPN virtuoso
6-8 correct: VPN savvy
3-5 correct: VPN novice
0-2 correct: Unversed in VPNs

This was first published in November 2005

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Jackson Under Fire - The Chief on the Clock

By Keli McAlister

JACKSON, Tenn. - Gill Kendrick took the oath of office, becoming the police chief of the City of Jackson on November 16, 2009. After almost three years in office as Jackson's number one police officer, a small, random polling of the citizens of the city was conducted by 7 Eyewitness News. Despite crime being a common topic of conversation, of the 20 Jacksonian asked, none knew Chief Kendrick's name or face. "That's interesting," he said. "Yeah, it bothers me. I'd like for everyone to know who their chief is."

The reason why more people do not know who the chief is could be based on the amount of time he does or does not spend in town. Kendrick still calls Brownsville home. "The issue is I can't sell my home in Brownsville," he explained. "I've told the mayor and the mayor says he understands."

Mayor Jerry Gist echoed those words saying he would probably do the same thing in the same situation. "He's 30 minutes from the police department," Gist said. "I live in north Jackson and it takes me 25 minutes on a good day to get to City Hall."

Kendrick says as soon as he sells his home in Brownsville, he and his wife will move into the house they purchased soon after his hiring in Three Way. It currently sits empty.

However, it is not just his time off the clock that takes him out of Jackson. In our search of his travel expense reports, we found, in 2011, Chief Kendrick was reimbursed for things like hotels, food and airfare for 28 full or partial travel days while on the clock. That equals five and a half weeks of work days. "I would say most of them had to do with the Tennessee Associations of Chiefs of Police in Nashville," he recalled.

In fact, six of his nine trips, in which he submitted expense reports, were for meetings of the TACP, an organization where he served as president in the past. "I intend to continue my relationship with the Tennessee Associations of Chiefs of Police," Kendrick said. "I feel it's imperative because as chief I need to be trained in the area of my responsibility."

Chief Kendrick is quick to defend his 28 days of paid work days he spends away from the city. "I don't think it's extravagant," he said. "I think it's important and would just ask you trust the fact that it's not a vacation."

Kendrick maintains attending TACP meetings provides him with the necessary 40 hours of training every commissioned officer is required to complete every year. Outside of state requirements of weapons and domestic violence training, there are no departmental guidelines of what type of training officers must receive. Most Jackson officers participate in in-house training.

Though technically Chief Kendrick could complete his training with his officers, he says the classes offered locally do not meet the level of training he needs. When asked if he believed it was worth the time away from the department, he answered, "Yes, it is."

Kendrick maintains what he gets while at these two-day to week-long conferences is more than just training. He believes the face-to-face conversations with other department leaders about crime fighting in their area is invaluable. Though Mayor Gist agrees, he says he urges all of his employees to use caution in how many days they're away.

Overall, Mayor Gist believes the city benefits from Chief Kendrick's association with the TACP. "It casts an image of our city to the membership that a good person with leadership characteristics comes from Jackson," he explained. "It can only benefit the city and that's why I've encouraged it over the years."

We wanted to know the exact benefits the citizens of Jackson have received from Chief Kendrick's association with the TACP. Hear his answers as "Jackson Under Fire" continues on 7 Eyewitness News at 10.


Markus Gangl
Education and Labour Market Entry across Europe : The Impact of Institutional Arrangements in Training Systems and Labour Markets

Mannheimer Zentrum für Europäische Sozialforschung: Arbeitspapiere; 25
ISSN: 1437-8574

Education is the main resource of young people entering the labour market for securing employment, in competing for adequate employment contracts and to fulfill their occupational aspirations. As European countries differ widely in the institutional structure of their education and training systems and labour markets, different resources are provided to school-leavers entering into working life in different countries, who additionally face varying institutional and economic contexts in labour markets. The paper empirically addresses the crucial role of educational qualifications for successful labour market entry in twelve European countries in the mid-1990s, drawing on the 1992-1997 European Community Labour Force Survey. The main aim of the analyses is to gauge the extent to which cross-national differences in labour market outcomes for market entrants can be related to institutional differences between countries in terms of differences in qualification profiles of school leavers and differences in terms of the relationship between qualifications and early labour market outcomes. The analyses cover unemployment and occupational allocation as two major dimensions of early labour market outcomes, applying multilevel modelling to a database of repeated comparative cross-sectional surveys. The results indicate that institutional differences in both education and training systems and labour markets play a major role in explaining cross-national differences in the experiences of young people entering the labour market in EU countries, even allowing for the effects of variation in economic conditions and other unmeasured heterogeneity between countries and types of qualifications.


Shopping Day

Today is shopping day at our house.  And, it's Thursday so our weekly delivery from Shiloh Hills Hens arrived too.  It was a pleasure to take produce out of plastic bags, wash it well and place it in bowls and platters.  On the counter I keep everything that does not absolutely require refrigeration.   By having ingredients out, in plain view, looking so pretty and fresh, it urges me on to cook and consume them, to honor them some how.  My refrigerator is small by modern standards, which I like, because any larger and it would be filled with un-necessaries.  The kitchen stays cool with a heavy fan blowing a good breeze constantly. Seldom does something go bad on the counter.  More often something goes bad in the fridge because it was forgotten.

I keep one refrigerated drawer just for greens and ingredients I set aside specifically for juicing.

An English trifle bowl is perfect for holding oranges or apples.  How often to I make trifle?  Not very, but I love the shape of the bowl.  It's large and fruit looks lovely in it.

 Fresh ground cashew butter takes a place inside  the pantry.  My husband spreads it on sprouted grain toast every single morning,  And for a hurried lunch I will occasionally make a cashew butter and honey sandwich - a step up indeed from PBJ.  There are many ways to use cashew butter including in some amazing raw desserts.  And when the container is down to nothing, Callie, our Lab eagerly takes the empty to the yard and licks it spit spot clean.

 What ingredient is always plentiful in the SimplyCooking® kitchen?  Lemons.

Besides being useful, a big bowlful also makes an elegant centerpiece, especially in a silver bowl.  Do you have a silver bowl, maybe handed down from the family, you are not quite sure what to do with?

I just re stained the top of my farm table.  I didn't realize how much prettier the produce would look.

As always, I used the

SimplyCooking® Pantry Checklist

as my guide for shopping and restocking.

Here is the list

, if you would like to use it too.

Ginger and Lime Lemonade

A Ginger and Lime Lemonade :: Gatsby Style

"Make us a cold drink,"  cried Daisy.  :: The Great Gatsby

It's not likely Daisy was sending off Tom to whip up a round of ginger and lime lemonades, but rather a boozy, fizzy, icy, limey gin rickey.  The Great Gatsby movie,  dripping in sweat and alcohol, makes even tea totalers crave a cocktail clicking with ice.

"Gatsby took up his drink.  'They certainly look cool', he said with visible tension.  We drank in long greedy swallows. "

If it doesn't officially feel like summer to you yet, see The Great Gatsby;  read the book; better yet, do both and enjoy a modern-day ginger and lime lemonade on the lawn.

ginger and lime lemonade

1 lime
1 lemon
1/2 " piece of fresh ginger root
1/4 cup agave nectar
6 cups water
stevia, to taste

Run the lime, lemon and ginger through the juicer.  Stir in agave nectar until well combined.  Add water and sweeten additionally, if desired, with a little stevia.  Pour into a glass or ceramic pitcher and chill for several hours, up to several days.  Stir, again, before pouring over ice.

Cucumber Crush

Cucumber Crush in a sugar-rimmed wine glass.

A perfect 85° F and sunny day in April means a requisite summery something to sip while clearing out the flower beds and baring pale arms in the sunshine.  This Cucumber Crush is just the drink.  It's basically water infused with cucumber and apple and sweetened delicately with agave nectar.

Cucumber Crush makes a non-alcohol drink for guests.
Since I bought a Breville Fountain Juicer over a year ago, I've been juicing the small remnants of fruits and vegetables and infusing water with these concentrated liquids.  If you use your juicer regularly, as I do, juicing a half an apple that someone left behind, or a small bit of unused cucumber is such a simple thing to do.  I try different combinations, some sweetened creating a twist on lemonade.   I place a small amount of juice in a pitcher, fill with water and chill.

Cucumber Crush is actually a cocktail with cucumber, vodka and lime.  But I love cucumber in water and much prefer my own version of Cucumber Crush to its alcohol-laced sister.  I served a pitcher of Cucumber Crush the other evening for a wine and dessert pairing event as a festive offering for those not drinking alcohol.

cucumber crush

1/2 cucumber, juiced
1/2 apple, juiced
2 Tbsp. agave nectar
6 - 8 cups water

In a large pitcher, stir together the juices and agave nectar.  Add water and chill.

If you do not own a juicer, slice the cucumber and apple thinly and infuse in a pitcher of water.  Sweeten with agave nectar and chill.

For a sugar rimmed cup, as pictured above, rub a thin slice of cucumber around the rim and dip the rim in  a small amount of sugar; it doesn't take much and adds an extra touch.

Asian noodle bowl

Can't live without my julienne peeler.  In just a few strokes it made these long tube-shaped ribbons of carrots and zucchini which I tossed with spaghetti for a simple asian noodle bowl.  A well-designed julienne peeler is an essential tool in the SimplyCooking® kitchen.  The Kinpira  fits compactly in a drawer, rinses clean easily, has a sturdy handle and with years of daily use, the blade is sharp as new.   This is an easy way to make raw "spaghetti" out of zucchini or squash, a picnic carrot salad, slaws or a veggie noodle bowl, like this, where julienned vegetables create a tri-color spaghetti look - so pretty, equally good.

Kinpira Julienne Peeler ; $20 from Sur la table
This veggie laden "bowl" is based on a recipe from Ana Zaharia, a health coach with delicious but still approachable raw recipes on her website,  Even if you're not on the raw foods track, her site is inspiring and worth a visit.   I modified a few ingredients per the SimplyCooking® pantry; most people don't keep kelp noodles on hand but most everyone has some form of favorite noodle somewhere in the pantry.  I indicate spaghetti which is broadly kid friendly.   I replaced the cremini mushrooms with a can of water chestnuts.  Add what you like; add what you have for a super easy asian noodle bowl.

asian noodle bowl (adapted from "raw asian noodle bowl" ,

Put water on to boil for the spaghetti.  As the spaghetti cooks prepare the sauce and vegetables.

2 Tbsp. cashew butter
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame oil
1/3 cup water
1 tsp. cumin
1 clove garlic
1 tsp. minced ginger

Place sauce ingredients in a deep bowl and combine with an immersion blender.  (A regular blender can also be used.)

1 package spaghetti noodles
2 carrots, julienned
1 zucchini, julienned
2 stalks celery, finely sliced
1 can water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped

Cook the noodles, drain.  Place warm spaghetti in a serving bowl.  Add sliced vegetables and toss with sauce. Serve.

Almond Sauce

Spaghetti with Almond Sauce

In Spain, ground almonds are used to thicken and flavor sauces.  This per Penelope Casas in her book Tapas:  The Little Dishes of Spain.  Years ago I took a class on tapas in which several of her expert recipes were used for reference.  A favorite dish from the class was  tiny meatballs in a Saffron Almond Sauce.  Tiny meatballs aside, the sauce was pure genius and fun to make.  The recipe's creator, Ann Clark, used paprika and saffron threads for flavoring.  A blog post on spices by Serious Eats puts the cost for saffron between $2,000 and $10,000 per pound; definitely not for the SimplyCooking® pantry.

But the saffron's not the story here, it's the almonds and how Spain's almond sauce is a such clever twist on a simple everyday recipe.    Use a mortar and pestle to grind a clove of garlic, a little parsley, ground almonds and a little salt to a paste.  The paste is then stirred into a pot of simmering broth and sautéed  onions rounding it out to a sauce with character.  The SimplyCooking® recipe for Almond Sauce, which I adapted from the one taught by Ann Clark, can be used on steamed vegetables or plain pasta, Chicken Parmesan, grilled pork and, of course,  tiny meatballs.  With no cream or butter, it's a vegan delight.  No matter how you use it or who you serve it to, it's sure to be enjoyed.

almond sauce

2 Tbsp. grape seed oil
2 Tbsp. minced onion
1 tsp. AP flour
1/4 tsp. tumeric (or paprika)
1/4 cup brandy (or white wine)
1 cup vegetable broth (or homemade chicken stock)
1 clove garlic, peeled
1 Tbsp. minced parsley
1/3 cup ground almonds or almond meal
pinch of salt, Celtic Sea Salt preferred

Warm the oil in a saucepan.  Add the onion and sauté 3 minutes, until soft.  Add the flour and tumeric and stir one minute.  Stir in the brandy and broth, bring to a simmer, cover and cook 15 minutes.

Using a mortar and pestle, or a fork on a cutting board to mash the garlic, minced parsley, ground almonds and salt to a smooth paste. A food processor can also be used (If grinding whole almonds first, this would be easier anyway.)  Stir the paste into the simmered broth.  Serve over vegetables, pasta or with meat.

Related SimplyCooking® recipes:

chicken parmesan
meatless meatballs

Vegetable Terrine

I love the simplicity and rustic nature of this dish.  A layered tower of tender vegetables slide into a colorful mound on the plate.  Tear off a chunk of crusty bread and soak up the juices.  This is the perfect simple meal for early spring when you want an easy dish to prepare with a few pantry basics.  I often make this recipe on a day of cleaning out the gardens.  It's a nice afternoon break to make the dish.  It then bakes for almost two hours while I head back out.   Upon my return - dirty, tired and cold - a warm dinner welcomes me, and so good it smells.

When I say the dish has a rustic simplicity, this is actually quite the opposite of what anything 'terrine' typically conjures. A terrine, part of classical French cooking, refers to an oblong baking dish with deep sides in which ground or finely chopped and seasoned meats, or sometimes vegetables, are layered.  It's  either baked in a bain-marie (water bath) or molded by refrigerating.  When the loaf is unmolded and sliced, the pretty layering is revealed.  Often an intricate sauce is part of the recipe.  I have great admiration for French cuisine, the Art of French Baking on my counter as I write.  One its authors is Cloutide Dusoulier.  She writes a wonderful French food blog, Chocolate and Zucchini. and has several charming and authentic French recipes for terrines, including one with zucchini, carrots, herbs, eggs and goat cheese.  Soon I will make her recipe.  For now,  I'm absorbed by the rose garden my husband and I are adding to our yard and myriad other projects.  My cooking this Spring is efficient and healthful, to the point and meant to please all of us.

This SimplyCooking® recipe breaks the rules for terrines.   The process is far simpler, the ingredients basic; it's a broader interpretation that turns 'terrine' into a simple everyday recipe.

vegetable terrine

1/4 cup grape seed oil
2 cloves peeled garlic
2 medium potatoes, Yukon Gold can be unpeeled
1 medium onion, peeled
1 zucchini
1/2 bell pepper
3 carrots, peeled
spinach leaves, about 1 cup
Salt, Celtic Sea Salt preferable
1 tsp. dried oregano (or thyme, or rosemary)
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 generous tsp. honey
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
Parmesan or goat cheese, grated (optional)

Measure out the oil and place peeled garlic cloves in the cup.  Set aside while you prepare the dish.

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Slice the vegetables (except spinach) very thinly, as thin as you can.  Brush he sides and bottom of a loaf pan with some of the garlic oil, reserving the remainder for later.  Layer half of the vegetables in the pan, starting with the potatoes and ending with the spinach.  Arrange them neatly, pressing down as you go.  Sprinkle with a pinch of salt.  Repeat the layering.  Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and 1 tsp. dried oregano.  Empty the canned tomatoes into a bowl and stir in a generous spoonful of honey.  Drizzle the liquid over the vegetables and arrange the tomatoes over the top.  The pan will be mounded.  Cover tightly with heavy duty foil.  Place on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil.  Bake for 1 hour.

Remove the foil and sprinkle  with breadcrumbs and the reserved garlic infused oil.  Bake an additional 45 minutes.  Remove from oven and let stand a few minutes before serving.  Slice and top with a little grated Parmesan or goat cheese.

Note:  The leftovers are even better, I think.  Let the baking dish cool, cover with wrap and refrigerate, storing the leftovers in the original baking dish.

Vegan Chocolate Pudding

Do you have a dessert for tonight's dinner?  A creamy dark chocolate little something to finish off the meal?  A small dish of rich pudding sounds nice.  The vegan chocolate pudding at the nearby Foundation Grounds cafe is my all-time favorite chocolate pudding and is better than versions made with eggs, butter and milk.   Those ingredients, as it turns out, are not necessary for a luscious chocolate creation.  Nor is time.  This simple everyday recipe can be made in 10 minutes.

I've always made my own pudding just by whisking cornstarch, sugar (cocoa for chocolate) and a little salt in a pan, adding milk and finishing it off with vanilla extract and butter.  The fat from the butter is what gives pudding, and mousse, their lovely silky texture.  So in making a vegan pudding, I substituted coconut oil and almond milk which work beautifully. Coconut oil is a funny ingredient as it's a solid at cooler air temperatures and a liquid at warmer air temperatures.  It will not give a "coconutty" taste.

Use whimsy when putting the pudding in serving dishes;  tea cups, little juice glasses.  I served this pudding last night in my grandmother's cordial glasses with pink plastic spoons that had been floating around in a drawer.  Yum!

vegan chocolate pudding

3 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
pinch of salt, Celtic Sea Salt preferable
2 cups almond milk
1 oz. 70% dark chocolate (optional*)
1/2 tsp. brandy or vanilla extract
1 heaping tsp. coconut oil

In a medium pan whisk together the cornstarch, sugar, cocoa and salt.  Over medium/low heat slowly whisk in the almond milk.  DO NOT let it boil.  Continue to whisk until it thickens, but is not as thick as you want the end product for the pudding will continue to thicken when removed from the heat.  Remove from the heat and add the chocolate and brandy.  Let the chocolate melt and then stir.  Finish by stirring in the coconut oil.  Transfer to four or six serving bowls or one large bowl.  Cool.  Refrigerate until serving.

*Dark chocolate is considered vegan by many people and some brands of dark chocolate are labeled vegan. Omit if you do not wish to use it.

Chicken Enchiladas With Creamy Spinach Sauce

I'm talking about Chicken Enchiladas that are realistic to make on a busy night; not a recipe that becomes a Saturday afternoon project.  These are comfort food enchiladas; warm and soft with a creamy, cheesy edge.   They're extraordinary given how simple they are and can be ready to eat in 20 minutes IF you have some leftover cooked chicken.   (Please see the previous post on Roast Chicken. )  I'm a fan of roasting a chicken, maybe on the weekend, and having the meat on hand for quick meals, like this,  later in the week.  This recipe makes four melt - in- your - mouth enchiladas.

For anyone avoiding dairy, the sauce is equally good made with almond milk.  I make my sauce this way and top the enchiladas with cheddar style raw goat's cheese.  If you or someone you're serving is vegetarian, simply make their enchilada with steamed vegetables rather than chicken.

chicken enchiladas with creamy spinach sauce

2 Tbsp. butter
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 10oz. container fresh spinach
3 Tbsp. all purpose flour
1 cup whole or almond milk
1/2 tsp. salt (Celtic Sea Salt preferable)
pinch cayenne
4 10" tortillas
2 cups diced cooked chicken
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 300°F.  In a large sauté pan, melt the butter.  Add the chopped onion and cook over medium heat until soft.  Add the spinach leaves and cover with a lid.  Let the spinach wilt.  It will take just a few minutes.  Add the flour and stir for a minute.  Slowly add the milk while stirring constantly.  Season with salt and cayenne pepper.  Remove from heat.

Assemble by spooning a little sauce on each tortilla, placing 1/2 cup chicken down the center and rolling the enchiladas up.  Place them close together in a baking dish.  Spread the sauce over the top and sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese.  Bake for 10 minutes, until warmed through and the top looks gooey - the sauce bubbly and the cheese melted.

Roast Chicken

Roast Chicken:  Here's one of those examples of what's old-fashioned becoming new again.  For Roast Chicken, the quality of the bird has everything to do with the goodness of the taste.  And, if you want to be particular about the chicken you eat- how it was fed, where it was raised, how it was raised and whether it was exposed to hormones or antibiotics, an old- fashioned DIY roast chicken is a simple solution.  I use a chicken twice -  first to roast and then to make stock from the bones.  Here is where I really can tell a difference; the higher quality of chicken, the tastier and more gelatin in the stock.  I'm looking forward to Spring chickens from Shiloh Hill Hens.  This jewel of a local farm delivers  amazing eggs and produce that has been grown with the utmost care of the land and critters.

I often roast a chicken at the start of the week so there's fresh meat for sandwiches, cooked chicken and  stock to use in simple recipes for days and days following.  It's a lot of output from one little chick and a few simple steps.

roast chicken

2 Tbsp. butter
1 large onion, peeled and sliced thin
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 small chicken (4 lbs. about) without giblets
Salt (Celtic Sea Salt preferable)
dried herb of choice (oregano, rosemary, thyme)

Preheat oven to 375°F.   Melt the butter in a little pan.  Strew the onion slices and garlic  on the bottom of a roasting pan or a jelly roll pan lined with foil.    Rinse the chicken and dry it well. Set the chicken on a rack over the onions and garlic.  Brush with half the butter and sprinkle generously with salt and dried herbs.  Bake for one hour.  Remove from the oven, turn the chicken over and brush with the remaining butter.  Sprinkle again with salt and dried herbs.  Bake one hour longer.  Remove from the oven  and let stand 5 - 10 minutes before slicing.  Use the carcass and bones for stock.

Ginger Tea

There's nothing more delicious - or better -  for a cold than Ginger Tea.  A beautiful snow falls, a fire's crackling in the living room, the dog and a cup of fresh ginger tea are right by my side today as I sniffle my way back to health.  I guess toodling around New York City in the rain and snow earlier in the week has caught up with me.  The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Laduree for macarons, Dean & DeLuca, Times Square, a show, and many charming restaurants now seem a foggy memory.

I've made my pot of tea using a small piece of fresh ginger from the SimplyCooking® Pantry.  I'm leaving the other ingredients, honey and fresh lemon, on the counter all day for easy access.   This warming and delicious tea can be simply made.  The sipping experience and benefits are much improved from from ginger tea in a bag.

Even if you don't  have a cold, ginger tea is a nice sipping drink.

ginger tea

1" piece of fresh ginger

Peel the ginger and slice into coins.  Fill a small saucepan with water - about 2 cups or so - and add the ginger.  Bring to a boil.  Remove from the heat and cover the pot with a lid.  Let the tea steep 20 minutes.  Strain into a tea pot or pitcher for serving.  Squeeze in fresh lemon and add honey to taste.


Homemade Frames for Canvas Paintings

By Wade Shaddy

Handmade frames for painting must be strong, and look good. They will represent your painting. If it is ornate, it can be used for portraits. For landscapes or animals, rustic frames work better. Almost anyone can make his own frames. By making it yourself, you can craft it to match the ambiance of the painting, and you get the satisfaction of doing it yourself.

Internal Frame

There are two types of frames for canvas paintings. The typical painting uses them together at the same time. One frame is the actual framework of the painting itself. The interior frame needs to be very strong and is usually joined together with staples or corrugated nails. It is square or rectangular with 45-degree miter cuts on the ends. The canvas is stretched tight over it and then stapled to the back of the frame. This frame supports the tension of the canvas and should be built with strength in mind. It can be built from almost any kind of wood. It is never seen unless the frame is turned over backwards.

Ornate External

The external frame is what everyone sees when they look at a painting. Some artists prefer highly profiled broad gold leaf frames. For ornate frames like these, it's best to buy the frame material and then use a miter saw to cut the mitered corners. You can then use standard pin nailers to fasten the frames together with plenty of glue. Wipe the glue off the corners while it is still wet.

For most external frames, old wood works great. Older, rough-textured gray wood imparts an old-world quality to the painting. Get your hands on some barn wood or old wood from a razed building. Cut it into 2- or 3-inch-wide strips. Use a miter saw to cut the corners at 45 degrees. Lay the frame out on a flat worktable. Smear white glue on the mitered corners. For the best, most square frame building, use a nylon strap clamp to wrap around the frame. When you tighten this type of clamp, the frame squares itself. When the glue dries, remove the clamp and shoot pin nails into the corners.

Finished hardwood frames can add an element of craftsmanship to any painting. Rip the hardwood into 2- or 3-inch-wide boards. For variety, run a router with a roman-ogee, cove or bullnose router bit along one edge. Cut and build the frame using a nylon strap clamp. By building it this way, the profiled edges come together forming patterns that follow the frame around on the inside, outside or both. Sand, stain and finish the frame before installing the painting.

© Demand Media 2011


Hyperrealism meets surrealism in Jean-Pacome Dedieu’s stunning photography series. His still-life series features a beautiful amalgamation of color and centralism, which focuses on an idyllic concept.  From fantasy-hyped bedroom boudoirs to realistic luxury car advertisements, Jean-Pacome Dedieu is not afraid to commit to an idea and accentuate it with an insane amount of color.

Jean-Pacome Dedieu takes random objects and inflicts them into the work he is doing. He is constantly breaking boundaries and conforming molds to create a hyperrealistic idea of real life. The photography is modern in nature and focuses on the idea of beauty and populated artwork. From rainbow coloring to dismal monochromatic backdrops, the photoshoots often are comprised of a mixture of real objects and digitalized pieces.


Chamber of Regions

8 September 2009

Overindebtedness of households: the responsibility of regions

Committee on Social Cohesion

Rapporteur : Carmen Patrizia MURATORE, Italy (R, ILDG1)

A. Draft Resolution 2
B. Draft Recommendation 3
C. Explanatory Memorandum 5

The economic and financial crisis affects the consumption patterns of many families, particularly the most vulnerable who, to meet their essential needs, are exposed to overindebtedness or to usurious practices.

As an adjunct to the necessary development of national provisions, this report proposes regional measures, especially preventive ones, to protect consumers and ensure the financial inclusion of the poorest households.

It advocates control of lending practices and puts forward the idea of devising a European model for a code of good practice under the aegis of the Council of Europe in order to make all the players in the credit chain aware of their responsibilities.

1. A growing number of households in Europe are experiencing a deterioration in their financial situation because of the recession, a worsening in their bargaining and purchasing power, an increasing use of credit to meet basic needs and above all the situation that they are increasingly faced by loans of low quality and high cost.3 This and the increase of risks to a steady income sometimes leads them into a vicious spiral of over-indebtedness. Others, lacking access to legal sources of credit, fall prey to unlawful usurers, who, in parallel to other illegal activities that threaten public security, take advantage of their vulnerability.

2. On the wave of market deregulation and in the absence of preventive measures, these phenomena extend and deepen levels of poverty and exclusion, and affect the whole of society, leaving the local and regional communities to manage the social consequences of evictions and family break-ups.

3. The Congress recalls its recent work on responsible consumption and solidarity-based finance,4 emphasising that all the stakeholders in society share responsibility for this matter, and considers that it is urgent in the current context to deal with the issue of over-indebtedness and usury, whether legal or not, and to guarantee the financial inclusion of the poorest households.

4. Considering that it is for the local and regional authorities to come to the assistance of groups in difficulty and to promote action at the local level, the Congress calls on regional governments to adopt measures to supplement the national provisions, lobby for credit regulations which address problems like credit card flipping, usurious linked products, kick-back provisions and so on, possibly by legislative means within the framework of their powers, in order to combat these phenomena. More attention should be given to lending practices, control and social consequences.

5 To this end, the Congress invites the regions to create favourable conditions for networking competences, sharing know-how and concluding partnerships with the institutional and economic stakeholders in their areas in order to implement the following activities:

a. make lenders and credit intermediaries aware of their responsibilities by laying down rules and alerting their employees;

b. create, where they do not already exist, and financially support effective debt advice services and link this provision to other municipal and local services; monitor local demand for these services, provide technical assistance for them and training for their staff;

c. on a preventive basis, develop :

i. budgetary support for all population groups, as well as reception facilities and social, economic and legal aid for over-indebted persons;

ii. an introduction to the banking and budgetary environment for the general public, individuals, recently recruited employees and vulnerable groups;

d. support organisations working to prevent over-indebtedness which inform and support over-indebted persons and promote responsible access to specially-adapted bank accounts and small credit for persons in insecure situations;

e. encourage access to responsible credit products, socially provided where this is required, in order to support people on low incomes to obtain or retain employment, secure mobility or occupational reintegration, or to facilitate access to housing;

f. combat usury on the ground by encouraging victims to report cases of illegal lending via confidential telephone hotlines, and set up specialised teams with the necessary powers to identify and prosecute perpetrators;

g. collect and evaluate data from credit and debt counselling, provide an annual report on overindebtedness, its causes and social effects in their region and effectively facilitate the reporting of cases of usury;

h. support conferences and meetings between the consumer, money advice activists and the banking industry in order to raise public awareness and inform professionals.

6. The Congress invites regional governments to draw inspiration from the Multipartite Social Contract designed by the European Committee on Social Cohesion (CDCS) when setting up mecanisms to support overindebted people; these contracts bring together public authorities and different civil society organisations to offer various joint services thereby avoiding a dispersal of efforts and promoting the responsibility of the beneficiaries and their commitment to initiatives of solidarity.

7. The Congress recalls Recommendation CM/Rec(2007)8 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on legal solutions to debt problems, and encourages regional governments to use their influence to ensure that their national authorities implement this text.

8. Lastly, the Congress requests its Committee on Social Cohesion to co-operate with its opposite number in the Committee of the Regions on the issue of responsible consumption and credit, as well as on the consequences of the economic and financial crisis.

1. Credit has greatly expanded in a number of European countries over the last few decades, sometimes without sufficient monitoring and regulation to the detriment of consumers’ rights. Certain improper commercial practices are used to entice families to misuse consumer credit and some of these families who live on the fringes of a system inappropriately distributing credit have recourse to such illegal practices as usury.

2. Specialised public agencies and credit and debt observatories have noted a resurgence of predatory lending practices driven by the current economic and financial crisis. Furthermore, the procedures for dealing with over-indebtedness which a number of member states have introduced are often complex and tend to penalise debtors by isolating them and their families, thus making them dependent on the community.

3. The local and regional authorities are directly confronted with the social consequences of these developments, such as ever-longer waiting lists for social housing, increasing numbers of persons with no fixed abode, and deteriorating health. The Congress welcomes the efforts of some local and regional authorities to adjust their social policies in this field.

4. With reference to its previous work on responsible consumption and solidarity-based finance,6 the Congress appeals to the responsibility of the public authorities at all levels with a view to adopting a coherent set of measures to reinforce borrower protection and facilitate the financial integration of the most vulnerable households.

5. To this end, the Congress invites the Committee of Ministers to request member states to:

a. revise all their mechanisms for dealing with insolvency in consultation with consumers’ associations, concentrating on the preventive aspect;

b. link up the maximum credit rates to reference rates rather than to those used by the credit institutions;

c. make all the players in the credit chain aware of their responsibilities by:

i. setting up a national databank recording all financial commitments entered into by individuals7 and requiring lenders and credit intermediaries to consult this data facility, to secure all the requisite information from loan applicants in order to evaluate their financial situation and refunding capacity, and to pinpoint the most suitable type and amount of credit to grant them. Such databanks should be supervised so that the requirements of data protection and privacy are met, to prevent their misuse (eg for scorings that would allow higher interest rates to be extracted from poor consumers);

ii. establishing rules on the promotion, administration and implementation of credit contracts, accompanied by civil and criminal law sanctions against banks and credit organisations such as forfeiture of interests, and mandating national bodies to verify their practices;

d. set up, as an alternative to judicial proceedings, a nationwide network of debt mediation services (public or private) responsible for informing over-indebted persons of their legal rights and obligations and helping them propose debt clearance plans to their creditors or identify other legitimate strategies for dealing with their over-indebtedness;

e. promote education in financial matters for consumers and education on social matters for suppliers in a process of mutual learning;

f. encourage development and provision of responsible credit products in the private, co-operative, and public sectors which can meet the credit needs of those individuals hitherto excluded from the traditional economic and financial system;

g. co-operate with local and regional authorities to launch action on the ground against usury by establishing clear legal definitions of usury and providing human and budgetary resources for the setting up of teams with specific powers to conduct investigations and prosecute illegal lenders;

h. evaluate periodically activities geared to preventing and tackling household over-indebtedness and promoting financial inclusion.

6. The Congress invites member states to disseminate the approach developed by the European Committee on Social Cohesion (CDCS) in the Multipartite Social Contract, encouraging local and regional authorities and civil society organisations to coordinate their efforts to assist and provide services to overindebted people, setting up a dialogue with them and allowing them in particular to exercise their solidarity and civic responsibility; moreover the Congress asks the Committee of Ministers to reinforce the CDCS' activities on shared social responsibility involving citizens in the fight against exclusion.

7. Furthermore, the Congress recalls Recommendation CM/Rec(2007)8 to member states on legal solutions to debt problems, which recommends alleviating the effects of the recovery of debt and respecting the human dignity of over-indebted persons and families. In order to ensure its effective implementation, it requests that the Committee of Ministers:

a. ensure the promotion of the recommendation in member states vis-à-vis all the stakeholders;

b. take practical action to assess its implementation, including gathering information from member states and exchanging good practices at national and regional level;

c. work on introducing the concepts of ethics and social responsibility into credit practices by mandating the appropriate Council of Europe bodies to devise a European model of good conduct and model responsible lending policy for banks and credit institutions, in close co-operation with the relevant professionals and consumer non-governmental organisations, and associate the Congress with its drafting and dissemination.

8. Lastly, the Congress requests the Committee of Ministers to invite the member states which are also members of the European Union to take account of Recommendation CM/Rec(2007)8 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on legal solutions to debt problems when implementing EU Directive 2008/48/EC on credit agreements for consumers, which centres on information for the future borrower.

1. Context

1.1 Definitions and definition attempts

1. Usury has always been taboo in Europe, essentially on religious grounds. Before the Reformation, however, Christian doctrine used the term "usury" to designate interest-bearing loans themselves, which it prohibited, as did the Jewish and Muslim religions (between believers belonging to the same community). From the Reformation onwards, usury was considered to refer to the practice of abusive interest rates, and to not the loans themselves.

2. According to a study published in June 2008 by the Observatoire de l'Epargne Européenne, the Bristol University Personal Finance Research Centre and the Centre for European Policy Studies,9 an over-indebted household may be defined as “a household whose income is insufficient to meet all its financial commitments both currently and in the foreseeable future without reducing its standard of living below the minimum accepted in the country concerned”.

3. This definition implies that over-indebtedness is structural (the financial difficulties must be persistent, not just the result of oversight, and must be impossible to resolve through the sale of financial or other assets), that it is assessed in relation to the capacity to meet current outgoings and all financial commitments (excluding informal commitments), and that it jeopardises the possibility of living in dignity.

4. The definition takes account of the household and not the individual, a household being a small group of people sharing the same home and pooling all or part of their income and assets.

1.2 Data

Household arrears and indebtedness

5. Taking into consideration all types of household commitments, the above European study estimates that, on average, 9.5 % of European households are in arrears, with Greek and Cypriot households and those in central European countries being the hardest hit. On the other hand, only 3.6 % and 3 % of European households, respectively, seem to be in arrears with mortgages or rent and the reimbursement of consumer credit.

6. The countries with the highest household borrowing rates are Greece, Cyprus, certain central and eastern European countries (the Czech Republic and Slovakia in the case of housing loans, Poland and Latvia in the case of credit for consumer goods and services), the United Kingdom, Ireland, France and certain Scandinavian countries. The authors of the study do not consider that there is necessarily a link between the proportion of the population having difficulty in making ends meet and the size or number of such loans per household.

7. In a number of European countries there are no records of over-indebtedness, but various indicators suggest that it has been increasing over the last decade. Where judicial procedures exist, the number of cases in which they are used to deal with situations of individual insolvency is increasing steadily.10 Non-judicial procedures are also being used more often.11

1.3 Possible causes

8. It is difficult to find identical causes of over-indebtedness throughout Europe, but the above-mentioned European study pinpoints risk factors which correspond to the features most commonly found in the over-indebted section of the population. These features concern the status and family situation of over-indebted people (being young and having children) and their socio-economic situation (being unemployed or, over the long term, having a low income and being in rented accommodation). No one, however, is born or inevitably becomes or remains indebted. A situation of over-indebtedness or one conducive to over-indebtedness changes with time and depends on the micro- and macro-economic climate and social habits. Latent over-indebtedness may, for instance, surface on the occasion of a sudden increase in outgoings or reduction in income. Minor payment arrears can become more serious or no longer be made good because of excessive prior financial commitments. These commitments, combined with a change affecting the household's financial or family situation, may lead to over-indebtedness if those concerned fail to manage their budget properly or are incapable of doing so. These observations belie peremptory assertions to the effect that over-indebtedness is due to personal imprudence or to life events

2. Preventing over-indebtedness and usury: regulation of credit

2.1 Information about credit and regulation of advertising

9. To ensure that borrowers are properly informed of the cost of consumer credit, the European Union requires member states to oblige lenders to provide clear comparative information or objective figures in their advertising and requires credit agreements to contain the main financial information concerning the credit provided. The European Union's consumer protection policy, which is based on the provision of information to prospective borrowers, cannot, however, help to prevent usury and over-indebtedness unless it is accompanied by measures to educate people about financial services: the information gets through only to consumers who are interested and able to understand it.

10. In Belgium and other countries, consumer credit agreements must also contain statements warning consumers against certain abuses or reminding them of their right to receive a detailed amortisation schedule. Under Belgian law, the advertising of credit is subject to strict rules with regard to types of advertising which may lead to impulsive acceptance,12 and some forms of misleading or unfair advertising, such as that addressed to the most vulnerable consumers or those already unable to honour their debts, are prohibited.13

2.2 Lender and credit intermediary’s obligation to provide information and advice (responsible lending)

11. In Belgium, before lenders make a consumer credit offer, the law requires them to consult the Central Individual Credit Register managed by the National Bank of Belgium. The Centre's database has a record of all consumer credit and housing loans already granted to prospective borrowers and any notable instances of repayment default. The lender and credit intermediary must also obtain from the prospective borrower all the information they consider necessary to assess his or her financial situation and ability to repay the loan. Lenders may grant credit only if, in the light of this information, they consider it reasonable to assume that the consumer will be in a position to honour his or her commitments.

12. In addition, the lender and credit intermediary must, amongst the contracts they offer or in which they regularly intervene, seek the type and amount of credit best suited to the financial situation of the consumer at the time when the contract is concluded and to the purpose of the funding requested.

2.3 Prohibition of the obligation to buy products associated with the credit

13. Lenders should not be allowed to make, directly or indirectly, the offer of a loan conditional upon the purchase of another product, such as insurance, from the lender, the credit intermediary or a company related to them (in which case the real cost of the credit would be higher), with the exception of insurance guaranteeing reimbursement of the loan in the event of death, illness or disability on the part of the borrower.

2.4 Methods of establishing annual percentage rates and maximum debit charges

14. The essential mechanism in the fight against usury consists in determining a maximum total cost of the credit, encompassing all interest and charges relating to the credit agreement, expressed as an annual percentage rate. This can vary according to the type of credit and the amount borrowed, and should be adjusted several times a year by a proportion identical to the change in a reference rate independent of the rates applied by credit institutions14.

15. This method would seem to provide more protection for borrowers than penalties imposed on those granting loans at a rate considered tantamount to usury, as in France. A rate that qualifies as usurious is one that is more than a third higher than the average rate applied during the quarter preceding the grant of credit for operations of the same type carrying similar risks. The level therefore depends directly on the rate applied by lenders, and this arrangement may prove ineffective in a climate where an uncompetitive market causes rates to spiral upwards, or where lenders come to an agreement among themselves.

2.5 Credit agreements: restriction of duration, obligation to repay capital after a certain period, minimum capital repayments, regulation of loans exceeding the authorised credit amount

16. In France, credit agreements are limited to one year, but the credit may be renewed provided the lender informs the borrower of the conditions of renewal. The question then arises of limiting the duration of agreements, without there being any possibility of tacit renewal, in order to prevent interest and charges from accumulating without any significant repayment of the capital borrowed, and ensure that improvident borrowers are not obliged to pay back a very large sum when they are notified of the end of the credit agreement.

17. One reply to this problem consists in restricting the duration of consumer credit. Another consists in introducing, for any credit granted for an indefinite period or a longer or shorter period where there is no compulsory periodic reimbursement of capital, the principle of "zérotage", whereby, after a certain period, the borrower must reimburse the capital borrowed before drawing further on his or her credit reserve.

2.6 Determination of the amounts due in the event of default, and settlement conditions

18. In Belgium, the law sets a ceiling on default interest for consumer credit15 and restricts the amount that may be claimed from the borrower when the latter defaults on the agreed payments and when the loan has to be reimbursed prematurely16 (in the latter case, subsequent payments must, moreover, go as a priority to pay off the outstanding capital balance and repayment instalments due before being used to pay default interest.17)

19. It is also possible for borrowers who can no longer repay one or more consumer loans to ask the court for payment facilities if they can show that their financial situation has deteriorated since the credit was granted. This procedure is less complicated and cheaper and entails fewer constraints than those for dealing with over-indebtedness but is useful only if the borrower is not completely insolvent, which is quite unusual in practice.

3. Handling over-indebtedness

3.1 Debt mediation services: nature, organisation, tasks and funding

20. Advice concerning financial and consumer services and help with managing a budget are sometimes not enough for an indebted person. Thus, public authorities should support the establishment of a network of debt mediation services responsible for helping over-indebted people to propose a plan for settling their debts, as a useful alternative to legal proceedings.

21. The service is to be chosen by the person concerned. The aim should be to analyse the individual's situation, determine his or her income, monthly outgoings, assets and liabilities, check the lawfulness of the sums being demanded and attempt to negotiate a plan for settling the debts with creditors or prepare other solutions, such as a judicial procedure18, which must be agreed on by the creditors. The service also provides information about the individual's rights and obligations and offers help with budgeting.

22. The debt mediation services may be public bodies often operating in municipal social welfare centres or private bodies in the form of not-for-profit organisations approved by the public (generally regional) authorities. They may ask the individual for a contribution in return for their work or require reimbursement of certain expenses, which are capped at very low levels. Public bodies (regions) can make a grant to such services. Subsidies from public funds can be financed with contributions from every client of the electricity and gas boards.

23. These services can receive help from experts with solving legal problems, obtaining legal documentation and specialised literature and dealing with difficult cases.

3.2 Other types of social assistance

24. Financial aid can be made available for problematic debt situations, in the form of help with electricity and gas bills, payment of all or a proportion of debts and the financing of energy-saving facilities.

3.3 Offer of supervised re-financing

25. In Finland, a public foundation guarantees loans made to over-indebted people to enable them to repay outstanding debts and honour their financial commitments under certain conditions (the over-indebtedness must not be due to personal negligence; it must be under control; the people concerned must be in a position to repay the loan; and there must be no other way for them to settle their debts). The foundation also offers other services: advice, debt mediation and help with household budgeting.

3.4 Judicial procedures for handling over-indebtedness

26. Most European countries have introduced judicial procedures for dealing with over-indebtedness, which vary in type and as regards conditions of access and the nature of the debts concerned. They all allow the court to impose a debt settlement plan on over-indebted persons and their creditors. The decision is generally preceded by a "friendly" stage, during which an effort is made to obtain agreement among the various parties on a plan and, if this is achieved, the plan is then approved by the court. It may be incorporated into the actual procedure and be based on the court decision authorising the procedure (France, Belgium) or it may be a compulsory preliminary, without forming part of the decision (Netherlands).

27. Alongside the intervention of the court, these procedures lead to the appointment of a law officer (the debt ombudsperson in Belgium, the administrator in the Netherlands) to receive and check debt statements, investigate the living conditions and assets of over-indebted persons19, determine, where necessary, the income needed to enable them to meet current outgoings, retain the surplus income to pay creditors, arrange for some of the property of the persons concerned to be sold, draw up a debt settlement plan and supervise its implementation and monitor the good faith of the over-indebted persons20. Sometimes this supervisory role is not provided for but a number of the tasks listed above are carried out by a government department or other government body (département commission in France).

28. Usually, the institution of such procedures makes it impossible for creditors to bring individual prosecutions in order lay their hands on the assets or income of the persons concerned21. Naturally, those persons are not allowed to get further into debt; otherwise they forfeit the benefits of the procedure.

4. Complementary national and regional strategies: the example of Liguria (Italy)

29. Provision to prevent and handle over-indebtedness and usury should be diverse and be both designed and implemented over the same territory by the various levels of government after prior consultation. Local and regional authorities should also work in concert with associations active in the field.

30. In Italy, the regions may grant forms of assistance which complement those prescribed by (national) Act No. 108/1996 for preventing and combating over-indebtedness and usury. This statute determines, in particular, what constitutes a usurious rate and sets up machinery for assisting victims who break the law of silence.

31. The originators of a bill to enact a regional law in Liguria consider that society bears a certain responsibility towards over-indebted persons, whom it should support by helping them to put their financial situation in order through suitable procedures. When persons beset with financial difficulties no longer have access to the banking system and are insolvent, they may be prompted to seek credit through unofficial channels. These practices are nonetheless verifiable, often being preceded by a long period of indebtedness.

32. The legislative initiative before the Assembly of Liguria envisages the provision of financial assistance (loans) complementing those of the National Anti-Usury Fund, whose measures can no longer cope with the extent of these phenomena.

33. It provides for the creation of a regional observatory on usury and access to credit, capable of apprehending the regional circumstances and peculiarities. This institution would form an integral part of a regional project founded on the collaboration of various players, local authorities included, in order to:

- gather data and deliver analyses to the bodies involved in combating extortion and usury (provincial authorities, courts, police, chambers of commerce, voluntary associations),

- conduct awareness and information campaigns on the instruments of assistance (anti-usury services, loans on the borrower’s honour),

- give the citizens financial education to increase their power of negotiation with credit brokers (professional or otherwise).

1 L: Chamber of Local Authorities / R: Chamber of Regions

ILDG: Independent and Liberal Democrat Group of the Congress

EPP/CD: European People’s Party – Christian Democrats of the Congress

SOC: Socialist Group of the Congress

NR: Members not belonging to a Political Group of the Congress

2 Preliminary draft resolution and preliminary draft recommendation approved by the Committee on Social Cohesion of the Chamber of Regions on 28 April 2009.

Members of the Committee :

E. Haider (Chair), M. Khan (Vice-Chair) (alternate: J. Edney), C. Aksoy, M. Aliev, S. Altobello, S. Berger (alternate : P. Schowtka), J.-M. Bourjac, M. Castro Almeida, A. Clemente Olivert, A. Colucci, Z. Dragunkina, M. Gerasumenko, M. Gojkovic (alternate: D. Davidovic), U. Hiller (alternate: G. Krug), T. Karol, F. Lastra Valdes (alternate: P. Bosch I Codola), D. Lloyd-Williams, D. Ronga, E. Simonetti (alternate: P. Muratore), R. Tirle, P. Wies.

N.B.: The names of members who took part in the vote are in italics.

Secretariat of the Committee : D. Rios and M. Grimmeissen

3 Especially revolving loans at extremely high rates of interest which, together with other costs act to prevent the borrower from paying off the original capital sum.

4 Resolution 263 (2008) on responsible consumption and solidarity-based finance.

5 See footnote 2.

6 Recommendation 244 (2008) on responsible consumption and solidarity-based finance.

7 Such as the Centrale des Crédits aux Particuliers managed by the Belgian National Bank.

8 Prepared with the contribution of Mr Didier Noël, expert, Observatoire du Crédit et de l’Endettement A.S.B.L.

9 Towards a common operational European definition of over-indebtedness, http://www.oee.fr. Study carried out with the help of 19 national experts and part-financed by the European Commission.

10 In Belgium, 64,493 judicial procedures of this kind were instituted in 2007, compared with 57,328 in 2006 and 49,655 in 2005.

11 The number of debt mediation cases processed with financial support from the regional government (in southern Belgium) was 17,668 in 2006, compared with 12,614 in 2003.

12 Excursion organised by or on behalf of a seller of goods or services, door-to-door selling, credit advertisements accompanied by the dispatch of a credit card.

13 For example, when an advertisement states "free credit", "even in the event of litigation" or "even to those on the National Bank register", when it encourages customers to "regroup", under abusive conditions, loans taken out previously, or stresses the ease or speed with which credit can be granted.

14 For example, the "three-month EURIBOR", the reference rate for three-month treasury bonds and the reference rate for two- or three-year " linear bonds (OLOs). The maximum rates would be adjusted if the reference rate rises or falls to a certain extent.

15 The rate may not exceed the agreed annual percentage rate, increased by a coefficient of 10%. If the agreed annual percentage rate is 0 %, the default interest rate may not exceed the reference rate provided for in the Civil Code.

16 Outstanding capital balance, repayment instalments due, default interest on the outstanding capital balance, cost of issuing reminders or notice to pay, agreed penalty.

17 To avoid a "snowball effect".

18 Excluding refinancing of the debts (at a cost).

19 In Belgium the debt ombudsperson must consult the Central Individual Credit Register and the register of attachment orders, instructions by debtors to third persons and transfers of earnings.

20 In the Netherlands, the administrator - who operates under the supervision of a bankruptcy judge - inspects mail sent to the over-indebted person doing the first 13 months of the procedure.

21 The Netherlands procedure may be preceded by a moratorium for a maximum of six months, which the court may impose on the creditors, at the over-indebted person's request, in certain circumstances (eviction, deprivation of fundamental services and lack of health insurance cover).

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American Eagles and American Dreams

Over the last week tens of millions of people (my two-year-old son, husband and myself among them) have logged on to watch a pair of Iowan eagles and their three babies perched high above the earth in a nest of sticks. This, at first glance, is an easy story about our national bird, which until 2007 was on the endangered species list, living its simple life of survival against the Darwinian odds. But there’s something more here and it’s less about the eagles themselves, actually, it’s about why we want to watch them and who we are.

Look at where we are as a nation: In the mornings we turn on the radio or the TV, check our blackberry’s and iPhones, and hear the same story: the recession is over; unemployment is going down; the Dow is creeping up. Everything’s getting better.

It may be. But what, I wonder, if we live in towns that have been ravaged by the recession, like Bend, Oregon or Millinocket, Maine; Bakersfield, California or Youngstown, Ohio? What if we’re still unemployed, as my own husband, Dan, was, for almost a year, before he decided to go back to school? What if we have to choose between rent and food?  What if we’ve become so disgusted by our on-going wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, so disheartened by the lack of concern for our planet which is screaming with tsunamis and earthquakes, so depressed by the media’s message to consume more in order to save ourselves, that we no longer know where to turn?

What’s interesting is that many of us find ourselves watching a real story in real time of a family, not unlike ours, which is just trying to survive. Theirs is a story of the vulnerability of babies who sometimes dangle close to the precipice of death; it’s a story of the courage of creatures and it’s a story of the perfect harmony of a partnership--in this case a male and a female--who are taking care of each other while below them we see cars go by, we hear airplanes overhead, we know that the world with all its Facebook and Twitter and reality TV and just plain artifice is going on and yet these eagles, blessedly, are just focused on their own survival and the survival of their children. And it’s a story of the American Dream, because the eagle is, in the end, a symbol of our country.

But what is the American Dream, anyway? Do any of us know anymore? Is it Fitzgerald’s vision of a “green light” and an “orgiastic future” that forever eludes us? Is it our founding fathers’ notion that all men are created equal to pursue happiness? Is it the workers’ rights the brave people in Wisconsin have been fighting for? Is it the idea of a house with a perfect lawn, an SUV out front, and all the material things we could want?

What’s hard about where we now find ourselves as a nation is that many of us in the working middle class grew up believing in the promise of “fruited plains,” ours to harvest if we worked hard enough, and that America was “made for you and me.” But how do we reconcile our beliefs with this interminable slog through joblessness and poverty? How do we believe in the American Dream when we see the injustice of an illegal war in Iraq and such a fundamental lack of concern for the earth that we know our own children we will inherit plagues of disaster?

How do we continue to believe in anything when we’re told the recession is over and yet close to 14 million Americans the government considers unemployed, men and women who are still willing ready and able, cannot get jobs? And this number does not reflect those whose unemployment has run out or people who are self employed and out of work or the people who have lost the heart to keep looking for a job are no longer counted.

We need to understand that somewhere along the line, the basic tenets of the American Dream got hijacked by a “get rich quick” greediness that has nothing to do with hard work and thriftiness, nothing to do with the pillars of justice and democracy we cherish as our birthright. And, in the meantime, the things that could sustain the American Dream through tough times, like a reliance on our communities, neighbors, and extended families, has been bred out of what we imagined for our lives. Young families like mine think we should be toughing it out alone as if we were pioneers with nary a neighbor in sight; instead we should be asking for help and reaching out to help others.

Fitzgerald famously wrote that, “There are no second acts in American lives.” I know from personal experience that’s not true. In 2008, Dan and I went west from Maine to start new lives in California. Just one year later, we found ourselves with a new baby and an empty bank account. The recession hit our family so hard that we were forced to drive back across the country to move in with my mother, in Maine. There, at home with Mom, we simplified our lives to only what we needed, not what we wanted. Then we reconfigured our dreams so they were no longer about material things or images of a house with a perfect lawn and two cars out front, and we began building them back, brick by brick. We got lucky, eventually. When I sold my memoir about our experience with the recession, we had $16 in the bank. The advance didn’t make us rich or even make a significant dent in the towering pile of bills that we towed across the country behind us, but it gave us some breathing room.

When I sold my book, people said to me, “Only in America!” and “That’s the American Dream!” Perhaps. But I’d add this: As I found out, the American Dream can no longer survive on the idea that if you persevere you will succeed. It needs to become something deeper, something simpler, something we are learning as we watch that family of the eagles in Iowa: We need each other. It’s that uncomplicated. As we watch the male eagle fly back to the nest with a gasping fish and pull it apart, giving pieces to the mother who is shielding her tiny babies under her belly, which she, in turn, feeds them bit by bit, we are moved by this beauty of needing each other to make it. Because it is only in coming together, with guts and determination, that we will build back the communities and families which will preserve what we know innately: that we can get through anything as long as we do it together.

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Your body language effects how you think and shapes who you are. Take a minute to examine your posture right now and note what you’re doing. Often times, our posture releases physical cues that intend to make ourselves smaller. Your knees are curled up to your chest. Your arms…


Windsor Coat of Arms / Windsor Family Crest

The surname of WINDSOR was a locational name 'of Windsor' a parish, a small borough and market town in County Berkshire, anciently Windleshora, said to have arisen from the winding course of the River Thames. Other spellings of the name include WINSOR, WINSER, WINZOR, WINZER, WINTZ and WINZAR. This surname of the present British royal family, was adopted in place of Wettin in 1917, as a response to anti-German feeling during the Ist World War. The surname of Edward VII (and hence of George V. up to 1917) was Wettin, his father, Prince Albert, being Prince Wettin of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The name Windsor was taken from the town in Berkshire where Windsor Castle is a Royal Residence. It had been an ordinary English habitation name for centuries before these events. Early records of the name mention Hugh de Windelsor, 1273, London. Miles Wyndsor registered at Corp Christi College, Oxford University in the year 1564. Windsor (Christian name omitted) and Elizabeth Perkins, were married at St. George's, Hanover Square, London in the year 1734. The small villages of Europe, or royal and noble households, even large religious dwellings and monasteries, gave rise to many family names, which reflected the occupation or profession of the original bearer of the name. Following the Crusades in Europe in the 11th 12th and 13th centuries a need was felt for an additional name. This was recognized by those of gentle birth, who realised that it added prestige and practical advantage to their status. At first the coat of arms was a practical matter which served a function on the battlefield and in tournaments. With his helmet covering his face, and armour encasing the knight from head to foot, the only means of identification for his followers, was the insignia painted on his shield, and embroidered on his surcoat, the draped and flowing garment worn over the armour. The associated arms are recorded in Burkes General Armory. Ulster King of Arms in 1884. Most of the European surnames were formed in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The process had started somewhat earlier and had continued in some places into the 19th century, but the norm is that in the tenth and eleventh centuries people did not have surnames, whereas by the fifteenth century most of the population had acquired a second name.

last updated on: January 7th, 2014

family shield, code of arms, genealogy


- Access Genealogy - http://www.accessgenealogy.com -

A- Alabama Indian Villages, Towns and Settlements

Atagi. One of the 4 Alibamu towns formerly situated in what is now Autauga co., Ala., extending 2 m. along the w. bank of Alabama r., a short distance w. of the present Montgomery. Autaugaville, Autauga cr., and Autauga co. are named after it. Hawkins (1798) speaks of it as a small village 4 m. below Pawokti, and says that the people have little inter course with the whites but are hospitable. Schooler (Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, iv, 578, 1854) states that it contained 54 families in 1832. (A. S. G.)

Atasi (Creek: ă′tăssa, ‘warclub’. Gatschet) . An ancient Upper Creek town on the s. side of Tallapoosa r., in Macon co., Ala., adjoining Calibee cr., 5 in. above Huthliwathli town. In 1766 it contained about 43 warriors, and when seen by Hawkins, about 1799, it was a poor, miserable-looking place. On Nov. 29, 1813, a battle was fought there between the Creeks and Jackson’s troops. The name was later applied to a town in the Creek Nation, Indian Ter., the people of which are called Atasálgi. See Jefferys, French Dom. Am., 135, map, 1761; Bartram, Trav., 454, 1791; Gatschet, Creek Migr. Leg., I, 128, 1884; II, 185, 1888.

Atchinaalgi (cedar grove people). A former small village of the Upper Creeks, on a tributary of Tallapoosa r. , probably in Tallapoosa co., Ala. It was their northernmost settlement in the 18th century, and was destroyed by Gen. White, Nov. 13, 1813. (A. S. G.)

Atchinahatchi (cedar creek) . A former branch settlement of the Upper Creek village of Kailaidshi, on a small stream of the same name, a tributary of the Tallapoosa, probably in Coosa co., Ala. ( A. S. G. )

Aucheucaula. A former Creek town situated on the E. bank of Coosa r., in the extreme N. w. corner of Coosa co., Ala. Royce in 18th Rep. B. A. E., Ala. map, 1900.

Article printed from Access Genealogy: http://www.accessgenealogy.com

URL to article: http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/a-alabama-indian-villages-towns-and-settlements.htm


Richard W. Hanson, Ph.D.

Many persons who enter our program actually suffer from two types of chronic pain - chronic physical pain and chronic emotional pain. Emotional pain typically begins with painful life experiences. The emotional pain can take the form of depression, guilt, anxiety, and fear. Anger is another common reaction to painful life experiences; however, the function of anger is often to shield you from the real underlying emotional hurt. Emotional pain becomes chronic when you continue to re-live and dwell upon painful life events that occurred in the past. Distressing or traumatic events that happened years ago may continue to affect your day-to-day mood, attitudes, and relationships with other people. One of the most extreme forms of chronic emotional pain is found among those who suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Veterans who suffered significant emotional trauma as a result of their experiences in combat may continue to be haunted by those experiences even though they occurred many years ago. One can also suffer chronic emotional pain from distressing events that occurred during childhood (e.g., abuse, neglect, or abandonment by one's parents). Chronic emotional pain can result from events which occurred later in life such as divorce, loss of loved ones, or loss of employment. Finally, chronic emotional pain may stem from the losses and disappointments associated with your chronic pain condition.

Understanding the perpetuation of emotional pain.

In order to break free from chronic emotional pain, it is important to understand how and why the pain keeps persisting. There are many possible reasons why emotional pain can continue. In some instances, the person continues to experience intrusive recollections of previous traumatic events. These emotionally-charged memories can take the form of recurrent nightmares or distressing daytime memory images. The memories may either be triggered by something in your immediate environmental (which reminds you of the trauma) or they may seem to "pop out of nowhere." Some even experience "flashbacks" in which they relive the traumatic events as though they were actually re-occurring. While some people experience painful memories as intrusive and entirely uninvited, others seem to excessively dwell on these events. Past hurts, disappointments, and injustices are played over and over again in their minds. Often these scenes are elaborated upon and expanded. The person may fantasize what they might do to change or correct past hurts and wrongs. When anger is used as means of coping with these painful experiences, one's fantasies typically turn to revenge. Recurrent images and fantasies related to previous upsetting events serve to perpetuate and add more fuel to the emotional pain. In fact, it has been pointed out that the process of replaying painful scenes in the mind is one of the most popular forms of self-torture.

An interesting question is, why do some people who have experienced significant trauma in their lives seem to eventually get over it and go on with their lives in a healthy manner, whereas others who have experienced similar trauma seem to be stuck in the past? Some even appear to wear their past traumas like a badge of honor to the extent that it becomes their primary identity. They become stuck in their victim role, and use their previous traumas as a major excuse for not doing more with their life. They go around telling themselves or others that, "if it weren't for ...(my past trauma or PTSD), I would be ...(more successful, happy, etc.)." In other words, it seems as though some don't want to let go of their painful past, whereas others want to but have difficulty doing so. One suggestion is that people continue to experience emotional pain to the extent that they try to avoid or escape the real emotional pain connected with the original traumas. It is as though the person has been wounded, but the wounds have not been allowed to properly heal. Rather they have been covered up with drug and alcohol abuse, misplaced rage and aggression, various forms of self-destructive behavior, or denial and repression. All of these mechanisms can be used as maladaptive attempts to avoid facing the original fear, hurt, shame, guilt, or feelings of worthlessness.

Letting go of the emotions associated with past traumas or painful life experiences.

Keep in mind that a realistic goal is not to simply "forget" the past. That may not be possible. Rather, the goal is to get over and get beyond the emotional pain that is linked to these distressing past events. Although you may be able to do this on your own, professional counseling is often required. Sometimes counseling is required to help you sort out your true feelings to the painful events. When faced honestly, many discover that they have mixed feelings associated with certain traumatic life events. For example, there may be both sadness and anger over the loss of a loved one. Facing and sorting out the true feelings may be a first step. The best form of counseling makes use of what has sometimes been called cognitive reprocessing therapy. This type of therapy requires you to go back and reconsider the painful life experiences from a different point of view. Typically, highly distorted and irrational beliefs surround the traumatic events. You may need to learn how to think about these events from a different perspective, a perspective that does not automatically call forth intense feelings of depression, guilt, rage, or fear. In some cases, learning to forgive may also be necessary to get beyond the emotional pain. Forgiveness may pertain to the actions of other people, or it may pertain to your own misdeeds and failures to act when you could have. Of course, in order for all of this to work, it has to be more than an intellectual exercise, it has to come from the heart.

Another approach is to work on letting go of the past by actively refocusing on something more enjoyable or meaningful in the present. Remember, misery loves a vacuum. However, those who have something better to do, don't suffer as much. Meaningful and rewarding work, hobbies, recreational activities, and relationships with other people can become the primary focus of attention rather than distressing events which occurred in the distant past. In order to do this, one must mentally redefine the past trauma as being a unique and specific event or set of events that occurred at a particular time and place in one's life. One must guard then against the distortion of overgeneralization which assumes that bad experiences in specific situations or with specific individuals must generalize to all similar situations or all similar individuals. Overgeneralization is associated with sweeping judgements such as "no one can be trusted," "no one really cares," or "no one can possibly understand me."

It also becomes necessary to consciously work at redirecting attention away from memories of unpleasant events in the past using techniques such as stopping negative thoughts and images and substituting more positive thoughts and images. Although it may not be possible to keep painful memories out of awareness, you can keep from dwelling on them and allowing them to fester inside. Each time you catch yourself thinking about the painful events or experiences, you must deliberately redirect your attention to something else. All of this requires considerable practice and effort.

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Full description for A History of the Roman People

  • A History of the Roman People continues to provide a comprehensive analytical survey of Roman history from its prehistoric roots in Italy and the wider Mediterranean world to the dissolution of the Roman Empire in Late Antiquity ca. A.D. 600. Clearly organized and highly readable, the text's narrative of major political and military events provides a chronological and conceptual framework for chapters on social, economic, and cultural developments of the periods covered. Major topics are treated separately so that students can easily grasp key concepts and ideas. * New research and scholarship has been incorporated throughout. * The chapters on the Etruscans and on Rome before the Republic have taken into account new archaeological material and research. * New research on the Roman family and the role of women is included. * New research on military history is included.Chapters on the Julio-Claudian, Flavian, and Antonine periods have been updated. * The chapters on Diocletian, Constantine, and the Christian Empire have received a clearer presentation of dynastic complexities. * Sections on religious changes and divisive theological issues have been updated and clarified. * Chapter summaries and overviews have been expanded or added.


Abrupt Climate Change

Weather and Climate Extremes in a Changing Climate

An assessment in the state of knowledge concerning changes in weather and climate extremes in North America and U.S. territories. Changes in extreme weather and climate events have significant impacts and are among the most serious challenges to society in coping with a changing climate.

Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis

A comprehensive and up-to-date scientific assessment of past, present, and future global climate change. The assessment confirms that the scientific understanding of the climate system and its sensitivity to greenhouse gas emissions is now richer and deeper than ever before. The chapters forming the bulk of this report describe scientists assessment of the state-of-knowledge in their respective fields.

Excessive Heat Events Guidebook


We’re only human? Maybe not

Sequencing of ancient DNA shows Neanderthal as well as previously unknown ancestors

New York TimesApril 29, 2012

Their DNA lives on in us even though they are extinct. “In a sense, we are a hybrid species,” said Chris Stringer, a paleoanthropologist who is the research leader in human origins at the Natural History Museum in London.

The Denisovans were first described a year ago in a groundbreaking paper in the journal Nature made possible by the genetic sequencing of the girl’s pinky bone and of an oddly shaped molar from a young adult. Those findings have unleashed a spate of new analyses.

Scientists are trying to envision the ancient couplings and their consequences: when and where they took place, how they happened, how many produced offspring, and what effect the archaic genes have on humans today.

Other scientists are trying to learn more about the Denisovans: who they were, where they lived, and how they became extinct.

A revolutionary increase in the speed and a decline in the cost of gene-sequencing technology have enabled scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, to map the genomes of both the Neanderthals and the Denisovans.

A third group of extinct humans, Homo floresiensis, nicknamed “the hobbits” because they were so small, also lived until about 17,000 years ago. It is not known whether modern humans bred with them because the hot, humid climate of the Indonesian island of Flores, where their remains were found, impairs the preservation of DNA.

This means that our modern era, since H. floresiensis died out, is the only time in the 4 million-year human history that just one type of human has been alive, said David Reich, a geneticist at Harvard Medical School who was the lead author of the Nature paper on the Denisovans.

Inside the cave

For many scientists, the epicenter of the emerging story on human origins is the Denisova cave in the Altai Mountains of Siberia, where the girl’s finger bone was discovered. It is the only known place on the planet where three types of humans – Denisovan, Neanderthal and modern – lived, probably not all at once.

John Hawks, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, whose lab is examining the archaic genomes, visited the cave in July. It has a high arched roof like a Gothic cathedral and a chimney to the sky, he said, adding that being there was like walking in the footsteps of our ancestors.

The cave has been open to the elements for a quarter of a million years and is rich with layers of sediments that may contain other surprises. Some of its chambers are unexplored, and excavators are still finding human remains that are not yet identified. The average temperature for a year, 32 degrees Fahrenheit, bodes well for the preservation of archaic DNA.

Could this cave have been one of the spots where the ancient mating took place? Hawks said it was possible.

But Reich and his team have determined through the patterns of archaic DNA replications that a small number of half-Neanderthal, half-modern human hybrids walked the earth 46,000 to 67,000 years ago, he said. The half-Denisovan, half-modern humans that contributed to our DNA were more recent.

Peter Parham, an immunologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine, has used an analysis of modern and ancient alleles – immune-system genetic components – to figure out that one of the Denisovan-modern couplings most likely took place in what is now southeastern China. He also has found some evidence that a Neanderthal-modern pair mated in west Asia.

Parham stressed, however, that his study was just the first step in trying to reconstruct where the mating took place. His analysis, which shows that some archaic immune alleles are widespread among modern humans, concludes that as few as six couplings all those tens of thousands of years ago might have led to the current level of ancient immune alleles.

Denisovan mystery

The value of the interbreeding shows up in the immune system, Parham’s analysis suggests. The Neanderthals and Denisovans had lived in Europe and Asia for many thousands of years before modern humans showed up, and they had developed ways to fight the diseases there, he said in an interview.

When modern humans mated with them, they got an injection of helpful genetic immune material so useful that it remains in the genome today. This suggests that modern humans needed the archaic DNA to survive.

The downside of archaic immune material is that it may be responsible for autoimmune diseases like diabetes, arthritis and multiple sclerosis, Parham said, stressing that these are preliminary results.

Although little is known about the Denisovans – the only remains so far are the pinky bone and the tooth, and there are no artifacts like tools – Reich and others suggest that they were once scattered widely across Asia, from the cold northern cave to the tropical south. The evidence is that modern populations in Oceania, including aboriginal Australians, carry Denisovan genes.

Reich and others suggest that the interbreeding that led to this phenomenon probably occurred in the south, rather than in Siberia. If so, the Denisovans were more widely dispersed than Neanderthals, and possibly more successful.

But the questions of how many Denisovans there were and how they became extinct have yet to be answered. Right now, as Reich put it, they are “a genome in search of an archaeology.”

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