Agnes by Tony Cochran for June 16, 2017

In “ancient” Rome, the upper-class women used to “paint” their faces white because it was considered a mark of beauty to appear “pale.” Unfortunately, they used lead to produce the “white”. The men, not to be outdone, ‘brewed’ their wine (which was a godawful mixture of sour wine and honey) in lead containers. And since the Romans were whizzes at mechanics but lousy at science (that was a ‘Greek" thing and therefore beneath them) they never did figure why so many of the publicans went crazy and/or died young while the plebeians and slaves lived robust, longer lives (by comparison)! The “good at mechanics/ lousy at science” aspect also had them extensively using lead pipes in their water systems, to boot! ’Modern’ Republicans might take a lesson from history in their refusal to utilize what “science” can teach (I am assuming that they are educable, which may be a reach, I know) ((sorry about the ‘snark, I couldn’t help myself!))