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Most assume that Black Death quickly ravaged the fourteenth century western world was a bacterial bubonic plague epidemic caused by flea bites and spread by rats. But the Black Death killed a high proportion of Scandinavians -- and where they lived was too cold for fleas to survive. A modern work gives us a clue into this mystery. The “Biology of Plagues” published by Cambridge University Press analyzed 2,500 years of plagues and concluded that the Black Death was caused by a viral hemorrhagic fever pandemic similar to Ebola. If this view is correct, the future medical and economic impacts...

He says the diagnosis of the worker - who's not identified - clearly shows that there was a breach of protocol.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea. though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swell thereof. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Psalm 46: 1-3;11

Today in predictable news: The teenage girls who abandoned their families in Austria to become jihadis for ISIS feel they’ve made a terrible mistake by joining the barbaric lifestyle and they want to come home. Samra Kesinovic, 17, and Sabina Selimovic, 15, are believed to be married, pregnant and living in the Islamic State-controlled city of Raqqa in northern Syria, Central European News reports.Evidently, the move didn’t work out as the pair had hoped: The change of heart is a much different tune than the note they left behind for their parents when they fled back in April, which read:...

A team of Greek researchers has confirmed that bones found in a two-chambered royal tomb at Vergina, a town some 100 miles away from Amphipolis's mysterious burial mound, indeed belong to the Macedonian King Philip II, Alexander the Great's father. The anthropological investigation examined 350 bones and fragments found in two larnakes, or caskets, of the tomb. It uncovered pathologies, activity markers and trauma that helped identify the tomb's occupants. Along with the cremated remains of Philip II, the burial, commonly known as Tomb II, also contained the bones of a woman warrior, possibly the daughter of the Skythian King...

Pro-business opposition candidate Aecio Neves has gained support and is running neck-and-neck with leftist President Dilma Rousseff ahead of Brazil's Oct. 26 presidential runoff, two polls showed on Thursday. The tight race highlights why Neves is actively seeking an endorsement from popular environmentalist Marina Silva, who finished third in the election's first round on Sunday with 22 million votes.

As you probably know, the Royals are taking on the Orioles in the ALCS this weekend. It's the first time in 29 years that Kansas City has been in this position and players, fans and local church groups are all very excited. But there was still one major issue going into Friday's Game 1: The city had a street named Baltimore Avenue. On Thursday, that issue was corrected: Yes, you can now drink "Moose Drool" on Royals Avenue while watching Friday's game. And hopefully Mayor Sly James is there because Sly James is the best mayor name in all the...

The Ebola virus recently broke out in Finda’s viallage of Guinea. Unfortunately not everyone can win the battle against this deadly virus See link for pictures with story Story of Finda Kamanos

Gwyneth Paltrow has won numerous awards for her acting, but speaking apparently came with some difficulty Thursday with President Barack Obama standing beside her. "You're so handsome that I can't speak properly," the actress, singer and food writer gushed after introducing Obama to several hundred supporters seated on white fold-out chairs in the lush backyard of her home in the movie star haven of Brentwood, a neighborhood in Los Angeles. In a not-so-subtle reference to her "conscious uncoupling" earlier this year from husband Chris Martin, Paltrow said it was a "profound honor" to have Obama in the home she shares...

It’s not your imagination: the stock market has gone a little bonkers lately. This week alone the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) plummeted 272 points on Tuesday, rocketed back 274 points Wednesday and sank more than 330 points today. October has already recorded five days where stocks moved more than 1%. That’s as many 1% moves as we saw in the prior five months combined. So why are stocks so crazy? There’s no set answer but here are three of the most obvious explanations making the rounds on Wall Street.

Check out the 10/8 audio rewind program at the 47:05 minute mark.

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allied military and the family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe Come on in, we're open Need a place just to hang out? This is it. We serve coffee, tea, conversation and music. Our AWESOME military, our AWESOME allies, and their families are welcomed and honored here. No worries in the FReeper Canteen Just Hangin' Cafe. Grab a cup and start a conversation. You never know who you might meet in the Cafe. Glad you could...

After being arrested, a Wisconsin couple had sex in the back of a police cruiser, an encounter that was interrupted when a cop heard the woman “begin to moan loudly” while her legs were “touching the ceiling” of the vehicle, according to a criminal complaint.

According to Internet conspiracy theorists, The Simpsons predicted the Ebola crisis - after a 1997 episode from season nine of the popular cartoon featured Marge trying to coax a sick Bart out of bed and into an activity. Among her suggestions is reading which she illustrated by showing him a copy of a book entitled 'Curious George and the Ebola Virus'.

RUSH: The White House has been demonstrated to have lied again on this Secret Service prostitute thing that happened down in Cartagena. It turns out the White House was in on it. The guy that actually ran the show down there, some 25-year-old kid, is now running women's issues for John Kerry at the State Department. He's the guy that hired the prostitutes for the Secret Service. The White House was fully aware of it, covered it up, and asked people to stand mute on it again until after an election. Here's another instance where the Regime has bottled up,...

The condition of a Spanish nurse's assistant ill with Ebola has worsened, a doctor told reporters Thursday. The update on Teresa Romero Ramos came two days after she was admitted to the same Madrid hospital where she had previously helped treat an Ebola patient, and 10 days after she started feeling ill. Dr. Yolanda Fuentes, who works at the Carlos III hospital, said Romero's condition had worsened but declined to give further details. Romero became ill after she helped treat an Ebola-stricken Spanish missionary. Her case has prompted concerns from her fellow medical professionals about whether they are properly equipped...

Los Angelenos will have lots of time on the roads this afternoon to contemplate the midterm elections when President Obama flies in for one of those “Hollywood fundraisers” news outlets love to sniff at — especially this one, at the home of Gwyneth Paltrow. Gwyneth’s Brentwood neighborhood was festooned with Obama Drone non-fan posters in anticipation of the president’s visit — tickets to which raised $1K to $32K per head for the Democratic National Committee, depending on whether the ticket holder wanted to actually get dinner as well as a photo with Obama. Press already is reporting that Obama plans...

As the 800-pound gorilla of retailers, Wal-Mart made national headlines when it announced on Tuesday that it was cutting the health benefits for its 30,000 employees who work fewer than 30 hours a week. A company blog post put the move down to rising healthcare costs, but the 30-hour cut-off gives a clue as to the real cause - President Barack Obama's healthcare reform. Under the Affordable Care Act, large companies are required, starting this January, to provide subsidised healthcare for every employee who works 30-hours a week or more. As the Atlantic's David A Graham notes, many of the...

Three more health workers in Spain have been admitted to hospital for monitoring for Ebola, including two doctors who had contact with a nurse infected with the disease. The third new patient is a nurse who had contact with one of the two Spanish missionaries who died from Ebola after being repatriated from west Africa for treatment. "He is showing symptoms and a test has been carried out but we have not received the result yet," said a spokesman for the Madrid hospital. Meanwhile, two people who had previously been under observation in hospital have been cleared of the disease...

Indian and Pakistani troops traded gunfire over their border in the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir, killing at least four civilians and worsening tensions between the longtime rivals, officials on both sides have said. The small-arms and mortar exchanges – which Indian officials called the worst violation of a 2003 ceasefire – also left 18 civilians wounded in India and another three in Pakistan.