Lead, Saturn and the Romans

Lead, Saturn and the Romans



Hence gout and stone afflict the human race;
Hence lazy jaundice with her saffron face;
Palsy, with shaking head and tott'ring knees.
And bloated dropsy, the staunch sot's disease;
Consumption, pale, with keen but hollow eye,
And sharpened feature, shew'd that death was nigh.
The feeble offspring curse their crazy sires,
And, tainted from his birth, the youth expires.
(Description of lead poisoning by an anonymous Roman hermit, Translated by Humelbergius Secundus, 1829)(4)

Roman mythology is rich with gods and goddesses made in the image and likeness of man. One such god was Saturn. The ancient stories say that Saturn leads his brothers and sisters in a revolt against their father and he becomes king of the gods. He marries Rhea and they have six children. Because of a prediction that one day one of his children will dethrone him, Saturn eats each of his newborns until the last one, the one Rhea protects.(1)

Ancient Rome also lent Saturn's name to a form of lead intoxication known as saturnine gout. The Romans noticed similarities between symptoms of this disorder and the irritable god, and named the disease after him.

Lead touched many areas of Roman life. It made up pipes and dishes, cosmetics and coins, and paints. For winemakers in the Roman Empire, lead was an integral part of the process. When boiling crushed grapes, Roman vintners insisted on using lead pots or lead-lined copper kettles.(2)

"For, in the boiling," wrote Roman winemaker Columella, "brazen vessels throw off copper rust which has a disagreeable flavor."

Lead’s sweet overtones, by contrast, were thought to add complementary flavors to wine and to food as well.(3)

Eventually, as a host of mysterious maladies became more common, some Romans began to suspect a connection between the metal and these illnesses.

However, the culture’s habits never changed. Roman aristocrats never dreamed of drinking wine except from a golden cup, but they thought nothing of washing down platters of lead-seasoned food with gallons of lead-adulterated wine. The result, according to many modern scholars, was the death by slow poisoning of the greatest empire the world has ever known.(5) read full article at Heroin and Cornflakes...

Air Pollution and Health: Is it a Con?

Air Pollution and Health: Is it a Con?



Poor air quality in parts of Ontario is approaching U.S. levels, with Toronto starting to have pollution readings more typically found in big U.S. cities, such as New York, say research scientists at Environment Canada.

“We are probably quite similar to New York City. I would say they are slightly higher, but not that far off, Toronto levels.”

Toronto and New York have a heavy pollution burden from the high local use of automobiles and from local industries, he said, but also suffer from the long-range transportation of pollutants from coal-fired electricity-generating stations in the U.S. Midwest.(1)

Deaths from Air Pollution

According to calculations by the Ontario Medical Association, exactly 348 people died from air pollution in the Waterloo Region in 2008. The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) says, in total, there were 21,000 deaths from exposure to air-borne pollutants in 2008. Of these, 2,682 Canadians were instantly struck down by the acute effects of pollution.(2) The CMA attributes more than 40 percent of acute air pollution deaths to cardio-vascular issues.

In a paper published in the July 2010 issue of the academic journal Environmental Modelling and Software, Ross McKitrick of the University of Guelph, questions the massive death toll attributed to air pollution. He uses new statistical techniques and had access to 20 years of data from 11 Canadian cities, incorporating periods of both high and low pollution levels. Most other smog death studies limit themselves to smaller time periods or specific locales.

McKitrick, and co-authors Gary Koop of the University of Strathclyde and Lise Tole of the University of Edinburgh, found that air pollution has no significant bearing on hospital admissions due to respiratory problems. They reported that smoking and income levels are far more important than any pollutant.

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American Dropout: A Day in the Life

American Dropout: A Day in the Life

“The relative decline of American education is untenable for our economy, unsustainable for our democracy, and unacceptable for our children. We cannot afford to let it continue.” Barack Obama

Wilmington is a city in North Carolina, United States. Just before 2 a.m. on Thursday, 3rd June, 2010, detectives were following a 2005 Dodge Durango carrying three men from Philadelphia International Airport to Wilmington when the driver, Marquis Lopez, realized he was being followed and sped off.

Delaware State Police stopped the car after a chase, took three men into custody and called a drug-sniffing dog. A subsequent search of the truck revealed a hidden compartment containing a loaded Glock .40 caliber handgun and 19,500 bags of heroin — each containing 0.025 grams of the drug, police said.

The heroin — estimated to weigh a total of 487.5 grams, or nearly 1.1 pounds — had an estimated street value of $195,000. No bail was set for Lopez, who was turned over to the DEA for federal charges; his passengers — Keenan Wallace, and David Flowers, were charged with trafficking heroin and possession with intent to deliver heroin and conspiracy. They were taken to Howard Young Prison in lieu of $550,000 and $266,000 bail respectively.(1)

They contribute to an alarming statistic. The total incarcerated population in America equaled 2,424,279 inmates at year end 2008.

The United States has the highest prison population rate in the world; 756 per 100,000 of the national population, followed by Russia – 629, Rwanda – 604.

Who typically contributes to these figures?

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Cold Turkey, Obesity and Sterilization

Cold Turkey, Obesity and Sterilization

Cold Turkey, Obesity and Sterilization

“Temperature’s rising Fever is high Can’t see no future Can’t see no sky My feet are so heavy So is my head I wish I was a baby I wish I was dead Cold turkey has got me on the run My body is aching Goose-pimple bone Can’t see no body Leave me alone My eyes are wide open Can’t get to sleep One thing I’m sure of I’m in at the deep freeze Cold turkey has got me on the run Cold turkey has got me on the run Thirty-six hours Rolling in pain Praying to someone Free me again Oh I’ll be a good boy Please make me well I promise you anything Get me out of this hell Cold turkey has got me on the run Oh, oh, oh, oh.” Lyrics by John Lennon.

“Cold Turkey” describes the actions of a person who gives up a habit or addiction all at once — that is, rather than gradually easing the process through reduction or by using replacement medication.

A substance that is becoming increasingly addictive is food. We know this because obesity has become a growing concern among both genders and all age groups in the U.S. In 1962, 13 percent of the American population was classified as obese. By 1994, this number had increased to 23 percent. According to 2007 estimates from the National Center for Health Statistics of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, over 60 percent of U.S. adult women are overweight with just over one-third of overweight adult women considered obese.

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