When I was 10 years old, a little girl friend turned to me at day camp and said, “Your legs are shaped like carrots. They are skinny at the bottom and fat at the top. Mine are shaped more like string beans.”

Right.

When I was 14 years old, a girl named Danni on my swim team informed me and my friends that, “If you can see a roll of skin on your stomach when you sit on the toilet, then you are fat and need to lose weight.”

Hmph.

I don’t know about you, but when I sit on the toilet (maybe it’s my posture) I see two things – a roll around my middle and my thighs smashed to their widest possible girth. I figure in the past 20 years I’ve sat on the toilet about 32,000 times. I’d say that at least half of those times the little stories from my youth have passed through my mind. Hmmm… that is 16,000 times I’ve had those thoughts. That is just not healthy!

Unsoliticted comments. We’ve all received them. Where do they lurk in your life? Why do they stick?

In this case, they stuck probably because I was at a really impressionable age. It’s probably because of some nature/nurture, self-esteem, self-worth issue. My rational mind can see that the girls probably said what they said because THEY were feeling insecure in some way. Wait. Does that make insecurity contagious? Can we literally pass on insecurity like a hot potato? That’s silly.

There’s so much to talk about here. Somewhere inside of each of us, there is a little kid who is still whiplashed from these unsolicited attacks. I guess the issue comes when she (the little girl me) shows up when I’m sitting on the toilet – or otherwise feeling “less than”. She doesn’t have any more skills or savvy to deal with the comments than she did back then. The adult me has an arsenal though: ways to get grounded, an ability to control my thinking and be more rational, compassion for myself and those other little kids, gratitude for my body and all of its working parts, a sense of humor and a sense of “who gives a flying monkey wrench”.

Most of all, when it comes to dealing with emotions rising from old unsolicited zingers, awareness is key. Awareness of what “part” of us is responding inside and out.

P.S. These carrot legs can really kick some stringbean butt.

Cancer is a modern day plague that is fast becoming the number one killer in the world. If you, or your loved one, have been stricken with cancer, the first thing you want to do is get good advice. But where do you go to get this advice?

A few short years ago, you were very limited as to where to find any information about cancer, much less any worthwhile information about alternative methods of dealing with cancer and cancer treatments.

Cancer is a horrible disease, causing terrible pain and suffering as it slowly (sometimes quickly) takes the life of its victim. The treatments to fight the disease sometimes are more painful than the disease itself, many times the patient’s immune system is so depleted from the treatment, that they contract other illnesses that their body has no way to ward off, and this is what takes their life.

If you have contracted cancer, what next? Is this a death sentence? Is there any way to fight it? You can undergo chemo, with all of its ill effects. But will this cure your cancer? Unfortunately, for most people, the answer is no. It seems that most people endure a painful treatment only to die anyway.

Is there an alternative treatment, something that will not make you sicker than the disease it is trying to cure? For many people, the answer is yes. We have heard stories of the painful treatments, yet many people are cured every year without undergoing painful chemo treatments and without the sickness that accompanies chemo.

Many doctors do not want you to undergo alternative treatment because they have a vested interest in the traditional drugs and treatment they prescribe for you. These treatments sometimes cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, and in many cases, they are experimental with no guarantee they will work. Yet doctors scoff at alternative treatments that have cured thousands of people at a fraction of the cost.

Sometimes the doctors are right to be skeptical of the alternative treatments. They are nothing more that second rate quackery, designed to separate you from your hard earned money with nothing in return.

So the question is, how do you find an alternative treatment that really works? With the invention of the internet, now it is possible to get a wealth of knowledge, in a short period of time on any subject, including cancer and alternative cancer treatment.

Find a good book, written by someone who has been cured from cancer. If your cancer is the same as theirs, you can get some useful information that may help you with struggle. The book should have testimonies and stories of other people that have been cured using the method outlined.

It may be necessary to get more than one book to find a treatment that works for you. But the price of a good book that actually offer hope and encouragement is a small fraction of the cost of traditional treatments that often do not work.

With the latest news on pneumonic plague in China that has killed three as of this writing, and a town of 10,000 people is sealed off to try to prevent the spread of the infection, I thought it would be instructive to differentiate the different forms of plague.

The term “plague” has struck fear into the hearts of people for centuries and for good reason. Historically, plague has destroyed entire civilizations. Probably the most noteworthy, the “Black Death” of the 1300s, that killed approximately one-third of Europe’s population.

Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium, Yersinia pestis. It is found in animals throughout the world, most commonly rats but other rodents like ground squirrels, prairie dogs, chipmunks, rabbits and voles. Fleas typically serve as the vector of plague. Human cases have been linked to the domestic cats and dogs that brought infected fleas into the house.

People can also get infected through direct contact with an infected animal, through inhalation and in the case of pneumonic plague, person to person.

Yersinia pestis is treatable with antibiotics if started early enough.

There are three forms of human plague; bubonic, septicemic and pneumonic.

o Bubonic plague

This is the most common form. In this form the bacteria enter the body through the bite of an infected flea or rodent. Here the bacteria infect the lymphatic system. After a few days to week, the person will experience fever, chills, weakness, and swollen lymph glands. These are called buboes.

In the U.S., bubonic plague is sporadic, primarily in the West. Typically there are around 10 cases annually here. Just a couple months ago, there was at least one death and several exposures in New Mexico.

Untreated bubonic plague is fatal about half the time.

o Septicemic plague

This form is also contracted from a flea or rodent bite. Sometimes it appears subsequent to untreated bubonic or pneumonic plague. It involves bloodstream dissemination to all areas of the body. Buboes do not occur. Symptoms are endotoxic shock and disseminated intravascular coagulation. Untreated septicemic plague is nearly always fatal.

o Pneumonic plague

Probably the most serious form of plague and it’s when the bacteria infect the lungs and cause pneumonia. It is contracted when the bacteria is inhaled (primary) or develops when bubonic or septicemic plague spreads to the lungs.

Pneumonic plague is contagious and can be transmitted person to person. It is highly communicable under appropriate climate conditions, overcrowding and cool temperatures. This is the form that is of concern in China today. Untreated pneumonic plague is frequently fatal.

In the U.S., there has not been a case of person to person transmitted plague since 1924.

Due to antibiotics, improved sanitation and better living conditions, in 2007 there was just over 2000 cases of plague worldwide with approximately 150 deaths.

Diabetes is actually classed as a good metabolic process disorder. Metabolic process is the way your body digests food items that individuals eat for power as well as growth. The majority of the food we ingest is converted in to glucose. Glucose is a sort of glucose in our blood and it certainly is the primary resource associated with energy for our bodies. After digestion, glucose enters our blood vessels but it really can never get into your cells without the existence of insulin.

Insulin tends to make this just as possible to get carbs and glucose to enter your cells. As a result, your pancreatic gland produces a good decent quantity of insulin through digestion of food. This would in that case enable glucose present in our bloodstream to go into our cells which then decreases your bloodstream carbs and glucose amounts. When our body doesn’t generate adequate insulin, your bloodstream glucose amounts remain higher which is acknowledged as hyperglycemia. This may then bring about excessive blood glucose which is passed out of our own bodies in pee which the cells are not receiving glucose for important power as well as growth requires. Physicians are able in order to verify if a body provides a normal metabolic process, prediabetes as well as all forms of diabetes through the use of three just as possible checks. The tests which may be performed tend to be the A1C test.

Precisely what are usually the various kinds of diabetes mellitus?

In Type 1 Diabetes, your entire body won’t produce blood insulin. Many men and women may pertain to this particular type as insulin dependent diabetes, teenager diabetic issues or early onset of diabetes. Type 1 diabetic issues will not be as general as type 2 diabetic issues plus happens frequently at the beginning of their adult years as well as adolescent years.

Having Type 2 Diabetes, our body doesn’t produce sufficient blood insulin or the tissues develop blood insulin resistant. Having the absence of blood insulin, blood sugar continues within our bloodstream leading to high glucose bloodstream levels. This will then finally result in serious health challenges.

You may also get prediabetes. That implies that your blood carbs and glucose is actually greater than mainstream amount but not high enough to generally be named as diabetes. Having prediabetes puts anyone for a greater threat to getting Type 2 Diabetes.

Pregnant females may get gestational diabetic issues. This is when a number of girls have got incredibly excessive amounts of glucose in to their cells, resulting in gradually rising amounts of diabetes. Most patients with gestational diabetes can manage their diabetic issues with physical exercise and diet. Undiscovered or unchecked gestational diabetes can increase the potential risk of problems during childbirth. Scientists from numerous institutes discovered that ladies whose eating plans just before carrying a child were high in animal fat and cholesterol stood a higher risk intended for gestational diabetes as when compared to their brethren whose diets had been low in cholesterol as well as animal fat.

During a period of time, using the gathered carbs and glucose in your blood, it will cause substantial health problems for you. It may harm ones sight, kidneys, nerve fibres and a lot more. Diabetes can also cause heart problems, stroke, as well as the requirement to amputate a certain limb. or limbs.

Blood checks can display if you have diabetic issues or the method that you tend to be managing your diabetic issues. Exercise as well as, reducing weight, with a controlled diet monitoring of blood sugar levels level and approved relief medication daily assist with your diabetes.

The Bubonic Plague originated in the Gobi dessert. It was spread by fleas which were in turn carried by rats and other animals. The first recorded incident of the plague was in the sixth century. The European lifestyle started changing, however, when people started moving from rural communities into big cities. Innovations in travel at the time allowed for more trade. Trade routes started to connect all parts of the “known” world. European, Asian, and even some African populations were set for disaster.

While The increased use of trade routes insured the spread of the disease all around the “known” world, the unhygienic conditions of the growing cities resulted in an epidemic in which approximately one third of earth’s human population died. During the Elizabethan Era, sewage was discarded in the streets of London and the nearby Thames River was used as a garbage dump. Most of London’s streets and alleys were cramped and narrow. These filthy conditions gave rise to a swarm of rats. The rats contracted the fleas from other rats and animals that came to England by several overseas trade routes. Immediately the infected fleas mingled with rat populations. As the bacterial pathogen responsible for the plague killed off the rats, the infected fleas started attacking humans. The epidemic was by that time in full motion.

All businesses were hard-hit by the plague, but theater was one of the most devastated. The Old Globe Theater was closed by the English authorities in their futile attempts to stop the spread of the Bubonic Plague, otherwise known as the “Black Death”. Shakespeare’s family was not immune to the disease, and several of his siblings were killed by it. The epidemic must have influenced him much like it did all the survivors in Europe. Perhaps that is why he wrote so many tragedies.

The symptoms of the plague were: “buboes” or swollen lymph nodes in the armpits, legs, neck, or groin; high fever; delirium; bleeding of the lungs; muscle pains; and an intense desire to sleep, which if yielded to quickly proved fatal. The “buboes” started red, then turned to purple and black as the disease progressed. “Bloodletting” or cutting a vein to let blood out of the infected areas was a common practice. Astonishingly, the blood was black, vile smelling, and disgusting, with some greening gunk mixed in.

Since no one knew what caused the: “Black Death”, the attempts to halt it were usually vain. Physicians wore protective clothing which actually prevented flea bites, and a mask which contained an oil that filtered the air they breathed. Although these safety measures proved effective, the treatments for the plague were generally herbs that were applied to relieve the symptoms. The lack of people to care for the sick was great, as everyone was afraid for their life. Disposing of the bodies was a horrific task. Workers soon became few so, recovered victims were forced to aid that difficult cleanup.

Do you have “friendships” that are killing you? I mean, do you have the kinds of friends that you come away from feeling like you have to downplay your achievements or talents?

Do you have friends that are overly possessive? Backstabbing? Or, are you one of those kinds of friends? In this article, I reveal the top 10 behaviors that are killing your friendships — and what you can do to be a better friend and have healthier friendships.

Friendship Killer #1 – Jealousy

I don’t know how it works with guys, but women are notoriously catty. Trust me. I grew up with a very jealous and competitive mother who could not stand for me to shine. In fact, she’s going to be 75 years old in June, and she still hates for me to be a confident, self-assured woman because she feels so threatened.

I also grew up with 4 catty sisters whose only goal in life was to tear me (and each other) down. So I know a thing or 2 about jealousy.

How to Spot Jealousy in a Friend

You know your friend is jealous when she behaves passive aggressively by constantly making comments (put downs) about your boyfriend, your clothes, your lifestyle, etc. and you find yourself having to downplay your achievements and talents just so she won’t get mad or start being competitive.

Jealousy destroys relationships because you can never be happy for the other person. And the very essence of friendship is support for one another.

Advice: If you’re the jealous type, ask yourself why you feel so less than. Build your self-esteem by doing esteemable things for yourself and others.

If your friend is the jealous one, have a serious conversation with her. Tell her you want to be supportive, but that you can’t and won’t be in a friendship that’s rife with jealousy.

By the way, I don’t talk to my mother anymore – and I’ll only deal with one of my sisters. Yeah. It was that bad.

Friendship Killer #2 – Selfishness (Narcissism)

With selfish friends, it’s always about them. Everything has to be on their terms. If you don’t go along with their program, they try to make you feel guilty, put you down, etc.

Advice: You may just be dealing with someone who is unaware that they’re selfish. If that’s the case, you need to gently tell your friend how her behavior affects you.

If you’re dealing with a narcissist, you may want to end the friendship, as it will always be one-sided.

Friendship Killer #3 – The Manipulator

The manipulative friend can never be direct. They know your weaknesses, so they hint around when they want you to do something, knowing that you will fall for their manipulation – hook, line and sinker.

Advice: Tell your friend nicely that you would appreciate it if she would be more direct with you.

Friendship Killer #4 – Possessiveness

I had a friend who always put down any other friend I wanted to hang out with because she couldn’t stand for me to be with anyone else. When I wanted to include others in activities, she vehemently opposed.

Advice: Smothering someone –telling them they can’t have other friends — is a sign of fear of abandonment. If it’s you who’s behaving possessively, ask yourself why you’re so terrified of losing your friend. If it’s your friend who is possessive, ask her the same thing – gently of course.

Then seek therapy.

Friendship Killer #5 – The Critic

With the critic, you can never win. Sometimes you can almost win, but inevitably the critic will find something wrong with you or what you did, what you’re wearing, etc.

Being around someone who is overly critical is devastating to your psyche and your self-worth.

Advice: Let go of the friendship. People who are overly critical will always raise the bar just out of your reach. It’s a no-win situation. Cut your losses.

Friendship Killer #6 – The Exploder

The exploder always keeps you off balance. It’s their way of controlling you. Being friends with an exploder is like walking through a minefield. You never know what’s going to set them off. Walking on eggshells in a relationship is not healthy and inhibits the growth of both parties.

Advice: Tell your friend to seek anger management, or you’re gone.

Friendship Killer #7 – Covetedness

Everyone gets a twinge of jealousy sometimes. But when it’s a constant in your friendship — that’s bad. Coveting goes hand in hand with jealousy. But it’s a closer cousin to envy.

Your envious friend always wants what you have. The mentality is “there’s not enough to go around, so I want what’s yours.”

Advice: Tell your friend you sense her envy and that it’s uncomfortable. Tell her if she acts on her covetedness, you will associate with her less.

Friendship Killer #8 – Disloyalty

God I hate disloyal people. Disloyal friends are the backstabbers. Gossips. They’re the ones you share a confidence with and then you hear about it on the 6:00 O’clock news. They’re the ones who laugh at you when you fall down – instead of helping you up.

Here’s the deal. I don’t think people should be loyal to a fault. But you should be loyal until your friend no longer deserves your loyalty.

Advice: Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Friendship Killer # 9 – Liars

Liars annoy the heck out of me. You can’t trust them. Ever. And you can’t have a friendship without trust.

Advice: Confront your friend about their lies. Tell them that you cannot trust them if they’re lying to you all the time and that trust is an important, and necessary part of the friendship.

Friendship Killer #10 – Being Too “Busy”

Relationships are not one sided. Everyone is busy. But friendships take time and effort. You’ve got to decide whether you really want the friendship because it takes an investment.

So if your friend is always saying she’s “busy”, it just means she doesn’t want to be friends anymore.

Advice: I’d see how often she tells me she’s too busy to hang out before I pull the plug on the friendship.

Conclusion

Friendships are an important part of life. So you want to make sure you’re not getting drained by the very people who are supposed to be uplifting to you. This advice goes for any type of relationship.

So, start paying close attention to your circle of friends and see if any of them fit into one or more of the “friendship killer” categories. Then do what you need to do to take care of yourself.

He was young, rich, dynamic and charismatic-a modern day iconic King of Camelot whose tragic death would befit a Shakespearean drama. The youngest man ever elected to the Presidency of the United States of America at the age of forty-three, he was also the youngest to die (whitehouse.gov). America’s 35th Commander-in-Chief, he was John Fitzgerald Kennedy, notably known by his initials, JFK. Kennedy was assassinated on Friday, 22 November 1963 in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas at 12:30 pm (Wikipedia), allegedly at the hands of lone gunman Lee Harvey Oswald, although conspiracy theories still abound to this day and do not acknowledge Oswald as the lone assassin. Kennedy’s killing was only one aspect of a family plagued by tragedy, tumult, suffering and chaos.

What number plagues the Kennedy family?

• Which number foreshadowed a life of tragedy for JFK?
• What number was most dominate regarding JFK’s assassination?
• What master number formed a dangerous tristack at the time of JFK’s assassination?

The Kennedy Plague

The name “Kennedy” was iconic to the Twentieth Century. No political name was more famous or more tragic. Why? There are many reasons, but certainly one main reason involves the master number 33, arguably the most dangerous of all the master numbers because of its pleasure-addictive, image-laden, self-expressive, sexually potent energies. In fact, the number 33 can be considered as the pleasure opiate of the master number spectrum. Simply queried, how many lives have been lost, damaged or negatively impacted as a result of the Kennedy family’s uncontrolled pleasure-seeking behaviors?

So where is the problematic numeric issue? It lies within the name “Kennedy” itself, which translates into a 33 master number. This is not to say the number 33 is completely negative. Every number has two sides – one positive, one negative. But master numbers are like nuclear energy, and if they are not controlled, they can be extremely destructive.

Mother Teresa, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, Jr., Helen Keller and Jackie Robinson all have the 33 in their charts and they were able to control its energies and express them positively in the promotion and expression of the fullness and goodness of life. On the other hand, such famous individuals as Charlie Sheen, Whitney Houston, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Phil Spector could not control the 33’s destructive energies, and their lives, like the Kennedy’s, have become tragic monuments to the 33’s seductive power of partying, sex, drugs, affliction and addiction.

History has proven that the Kennedy family has been quite challenged by the 33’s self-gratifying persona, as has been noted in the reckless sexual escapades involving JFK’s affairs, including his own and his brother Bobby’s contiguous liaisons with Marilyn Monroe, not to mention Ted Kennedy and the Chappaquiddick incident involving the tragic death of Mary Jo Kopechne. This kind of sexual indulgence and pleasure-seeking is a direct result of unrestrained 33 energy, which has generated a plague for the Kennedy legacy as well as playing an energetic role in the chart of JFK at the time of his assassination.

Tragic Lifepath

As the 33 is the most problematically addictive master number, the 7 Lifepath carries the potential of being the most difficult and sorrow-laden. Ironically, the 7 Lifepath also houses the greatest potential for spiritual progress. However, spiritual progress comes only with great discipline and devotion to substantive self-analysis, self-reflection, self-examination and purity of conduct. Absent these qualities, the spiritual potential of the number 7 wanes and its energies of secrecy, betrayal, adultery, intrigue, tumult and chaos wax substantially.

John F. Kennedy had a 7 Lifepath. Therefore, from his first breath to his last, his life would have been replete with spiritual testing, as well as temptation, from a whole host of conflictive arenas. The whole object of the 7 Lifepath is to overcome temptation and barriers designed to test the soul in order to assess its worthiness to move higher in consciousness. Because of this testing aspect of the 7, there would be many pressures in JFK’s life for him to manage, both on a personal, public, professional and political level.

It was the number 7 that was dominate during the time of Kennedy’s assassination. Creating a six stack of energy, a circumstance called stacking, the 7 was active in 1. JFK’s Lifepath, 2. Name Timeline PE of “Fitzgerald,” 3. Letter Timeline in the “G” of “Fitzgerald;” 4. as the Universal Day (22 November 1963 is a 7 day in reduction); 5. in the name “Dealey” (Plaza) where the assassination occurred (“Dealey” is a 7 in reduction) and 6. on the day he was buried, 25 November (25=7 in reduction). This amount of stacked 7 energy cannot be ignored in JFK’s demise.

Master Number Tristack at Death

The master number 33 raised its head again in the demise of John Kennedy, creating a tristack (3 stack). The first component was the name Kennedy itself, already discussed. The second part involved the 1st Pinnacle of the day he was assassinated, 22 November, which is a combination of the calendar day and month (22 + 11 [Nov.] = 33). The third part involved Kennedy’s 7/33 Grand Challenge, which was active during the time of his death. Again, this is an example of the intensity of stacking.

Summary

John F. Kennedy was a popular, charismatic president. Yet, his life was filled with conflict, betrayal and tragedy. The single number 7 and the master number 33 played major roles in his life and death. The numeric reality of stacking also had a dominant role in his destiny. ~finis

No one is immune from the plague when it strikes England during the Medieval Ages not even royalty. In fact everyone suffers either directly or through the loss of someone close to them. The plague is said to have such a devastating impact when it first arrives in England that around a half of the population go on to lose their lives. In the process the fabric of society is torn apart as feudalism begins to disintegrate.

Even today it is still remembered in seemingly innocent rhymes like ‘ring a ring of roses’.

Ring-a-Ring-of-Roses

A pocket full of posies

Atichoo! Atichoo!

We all fall down dead

A large part of the problem is that no one knows how to heal the victims. General medical ignorance and widespread desperation drive many to crazy cures. One option is to place a live hen next to the swelling to draw out the pestilence from the body. Then to aid recovery you drink a glass of your own urine twice a day. If that does not take your fancy than consider another alternative. It involves using a mixture of tree resin, roots of white lilies plus dried human excrement and then applying them to the places where the body is cut open. If that isn’t enough to kill you then you can always try drinking arsenic poison.

An early example of how the Black Death offered no favouritism occurs in early August, 1348 shortly after the plague has arrived in Europe. Joan, daughter of Edward III, is leaving England on a journey to be married to Pedro, the heir to the kingdom of Castile.

Everything appears to have been taken care of. She is accompanied by a heavily armed bodyguard. These included over a hundred English bowmen, some of them veterans of the Battle of Crecy 1346 (one of the most important battles of the Hundred Years’ War).

They protect not only her but the large dowry she brings. It includes a huge red silk marriage bed and her trousseau (cloth and linen for her marriage) alone requires an entire ship. Joan’s wedding dress itself is made with more than 150 meters of rakematiz (a thick silk fabric embroidered with strands of gold). This is an extremely rare and valuable commodity and helps illustrate her special status. In addition she also has a suit of red velvet, two sets of twenty four buttons made of silver gilt and enamel, five corsets woven with gold patterns of stars, crescents and diamonds and at least two elaborate dresses with an in built corset. Such is her ostentatiousness that she even travels with a luxurious portable chapel so she can enjoy Catholic services without having to use the local churches along the way to Castile in Bordeaux. So large is all of this retinue for the princess that it requires four whole English ships. They leave from Portsmouth and arrives at Bordeaux where a dumbstruck Mayor called Raymond de Bisquale greets them.

From Bordeaux to Castile should be straight forward but what Princess Joan does not know is that a Black Death plague is racing through Europe and sweeping aside all in its wake. In all probability as the pestilence has not been seen in England she probably knows nothing of it. Some say the Mayor immediately warns Joan and her companions about the danger of the Plague, but they don’t listen and proceed to settle in the royal castle overlooking the estuary of the Gironde.

It soon became apparent that a severe outbreak of a lethal disease is taking hold in Bordeaux but such is the ignorance of its potential lethalness the young princess and her advisors do not seek depart quickly enough. Very soon though she regrets her decision as she watches in horror as the members of her entourage begin falling sick and dying. On August 20th even Robert Bouchier, the main leader of the retinue and a tough veteran of the Battle of Crecy falls sick and dies.

A decision is taken to seek isolation and Joan, the 13 year old second daughter of King Edward III is moved, probably to a small village called Loremo where she remains for some time. However even here she can not escape the disease. Tragically for Edward his daughter suffers a violent and quick attack of the Black Death and dies on 2nd September 1348.

It is left to Andrew Ullford, a diplomatic lawyer who does not fall victim to the Plague to depart for England in October and to inform the King of what has occurred. The royal family are shocked even though by now with the spread of disease across the English Isles they are aware of its devastating mortal destruction.

Her dramatic and sudden death sends shock waves across the country. Not only is she one of the earliest english victims of the Plague, but her death disproves the idea that royalty will be spared by God. King Edward III expresses his feelings in a letter he sends to King Alfonso of Castile on October 15, 1348. With regret he ends the marriage arrangements and describes writes ‘but see, with what intense bitterness of heart we have to tell you this, destructive Death (who seizes young and old alike, sparing no one and reducing rich and poor to the same level) has lamentably snatched from both of us our dearest daughter, whom we loved best of all, as her virtues demanded”.

He describes Joan as a martyred angel looking down from Heaven to protect the royal family, and concludes “we have placed our trust in God and our life between his hands, where he held it closely through many dangers”. Then on a more emotional note he finished with “no fellow human being could be surprised if we were inwardly desolated by the sting of this bitter grief, for we are humans too.’

On October 25, Edward III sends an expedition to Bordeaux that is supposed to find the body of Joan and bring it back for burial in London. The leader is a northern ecclesiastical lord, the bishop of Carlisle. In recognition of the danger he is exposing himself to he is very well paid by the King at five marks per day. Unfortunately the story ends here as we are not quite sure happens next in the story. There is no record of Joan’s remains being returned to England, nor any account of a funeral of any kind. One possibility is that when the Mayor of Bordeaux decides to burn large parts of the town to stop the spread of the disease he might have also burnt her remains.

Her life is but a footnote in history but it has been suggested that actually it is significant as by preventing dynastic union between England and Castile it stops a potential shift in the balance of power between France and England. Had this happened it might have altered the course of the Hundred Years’ War (1337 to 1453) and prevented England from losing the war.

As for the bubonic plague it continues to cause outbreaks that spare no victims. A famous occasion occurs when King Richard II’s wife dies of the bubonic plague in 1394. So distraught is he that when the Earl of Arundel turns up late to his wife’s funeral he rushes over to him and strikes the Earl on the face.

The Demon Plague by Joreid McFate is a fantastic paranormal suspense science-fiction novel, involving time-travel and mysticism. This 424 page book is also available in e-book format.

Due to the volume of books I review, most are donated to our local library when the assignment is complete. However, this is one book that I just cannot part with. I felt this comment is important to mention, because only .04% of the books I review find their way to my personal bookshelves.

This exciting tale begins when a demon plague sweeps over mankind, wrought when some scientists developed a technology that mastered time travel. There are factions who radically search for a way towards racial and genetic purity -while others strive to cure the plague and fight for basic human rights. Crystal Patience Gladstone Donovan is caught up in this war when, at her grandmother’s deathbed, she is given a family heirloom and told that she is the ‘Star’ and to await her ‘Moon’.

Soon she is involved in a journey into the past where she meets her ancestor Patience Gladstone Talbot, another ‘Star’. Crystal learns that her middle names are common throughout time as they are given to the gifted child who is known by a birthmark. Chase scenes, deceit, battles, flashing back and forth into the past and into the future are all stepping-stones for Crystal and her friends in their attempts to do the right thing.

This story line could be used as an excellent reminder of the dangers and grand possibilities advanced technology could reap. It was refreshing to experience realistic female hero characters in this novel. I was absolutely astounded when I read that not only is Joreid McFate actually two separate authors, but that despite many other collaborative projects they have never met and never spoken on the telephone!

Without hesitation, I recommend The Demon Plague with the highest of ratings.

ISBN#: 1554102235

Author: Joreid McFate

Publisher: Zumaya Otherworlds

In the long history of human-animals relationships, a few episodes stand out in which one species has made a significant contribution to the survival of another. Rarely do cats get credit for such an accomplishment–more often dogs or horses, and then, usually in times of war–but the Black Plague of Europe is one of those times.

By way of background, the ancient Romans, in their conquest of Egypt, had brought cats home to Europe. Cats subsequently suffered a period of disfavor during the superstitious Middle Ages, for they had become associated with witches and the Devil; some people believed black cats were witches in disguise, or that they assisted witches in performing their craft. Those who kept cats as pets were the objects of much suspicion, and widespread cat hunting led almost to their extinction.

When rats from Asia brought the bubonic plague to Europe via trading ships in the mid-1300s, the epidemic (variously known as the Black Plague, the Great Plague, the Black Death, and the Great Mortality) swept across the continent, resulting in devastating loss of human life. In all, one-third of the population of Europe–some 34 million people–died. In England alone, more than half the human population perished; in some parts of France, ninety percent.

It took the authorities some time to figure out the cause of the problem. At one point they tested the theory that the disease was being spread by dogs and cats; thus the mayor of London ordered the execution of all such pets. Despite the extermination of millions of companion animals, however, the plague did not abate but actually accelerated, for, of course, the elimination of all cats was soon followed by an explosion of the rat population.

Eventually it became evident that people who had kept cats, in violation of the law, fared better; for the cats, according to their nature, killed the rats that carried the fleas that really carried the plague. People slowly began to deduce the rat-flea-disease connection. When the truth finally came to light, cats were quickly elevated to hero status, and soon became protected by law.

The Great Plague ended when the fleas started dying, as a part of their natural life cycle, in the cold of fall and winter. Subsequent plagues would visit Europe over successive generations, and other continents suffered similar outbreaks; it would not be until the 19th century that scientists really began to understand the epidemiology of the plague. Increased sanitary conditions over time helped reduce its incidence, and with the discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century, the threat of the plague was greatly reduced.

Would it be a stretch to say that, by bringing the rodent population under control, cats saved humans from extinction? At least, European humans? At a minimum, cats deserve credit for heroically saving the species that, through ignorance, almost wiped them out.

(C)Lisa J. Lehr 2006