WHEN in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary….
Strange Daze: Teething Syrup — The 9% Solution
byVanderleunonApril 7, 2022
Mock-up magazine cover titled “Fake” showing Lee Harvey Oswald holding a rifle; created by Jack White to make the argument that the photograph was a composite of several photos, n.d.
There is plenty of speculation about the when and the how the real decision-makers will remove Biden from office. Maybe they have a Lee Harvey Oswald in training, one of those Trump-loving white supremacists from their mythologies. That would justify another round of state-sponsored terrorism. Maybe they just force him out due to poor health in the hope of making him a sympathetic figure. Of course, who replaces him is another fun question to ponder.
That is all fun stuff to debate, but the question no one bothers to consider is who is making the decision on Biden? No one has provided a clear explanation for who picked him back in the primary. It was clearly not the voters. The party forced everyone to quit after the South Carolina primary, but how did that work? If it was just the party why did they wait so long? The timing suggests someone came to the aid of the party with new tools. . . .
Another unnoticed clue is the highly coordinated mass media campaigns that have become a staple of American life. After George Floyd’s overdose, we were deluged from every corner with anti-white propaganda. The content providers had a BLM campaign ready to go and the rioters were organized and ready. We have just witnessed the same coordinated media campaign on behalf of Ukraine. Where did the TV presenters get those Ukraine lapel pins?
Operation Mockingbird was a CIA program early in the Cold War to manipulate the media. Half a century ago, the far-left activist Carl Bernstein wrote a long article on the collusion between the CIA and the mass media. Today the mass media is full of “retired” intelligence officers working as pundits. The point is that the secret police infiltrated the media long ago and continue to run it. The fifty intel agents who swore Biden’s laptop was fake agree with this.
I enjoyed watching the real estate video, but the NY apartment wasn’t appealing. It was built of oddly cobbled together ancient pieces of wood and stone, the results weren’t beautiful, the views weren’t restful. I live in the countryside where I can look at tall pines and fields that roll down to the lake, at exactly .001 the cost of that barrenness. I haven’t watched the whole thing though. Maybe it gets better. Maybe I’ll understand it better in the morning.
gwbnycApril 7, 2022, 6:15 PM
Teething syrup:
At Walgreen’s looking for non-alcoholic mouthwash a few years ago, I notice a largish package on the shelf, a roughly cylindrical brown paper cover on a bottle. The paper was rather the same as Listerine bottles were packaged sometime back, rigid but flexible. I read the label and it was 36% alcohol and meant to be diluted to four parts. 1 quart/$12.99/72 proof.
Don’t recall the brand and that was the only time I saw it displayed.
PA CatApril 7, 2022, 6:50 PM
Apropos of the Marquise de Brinvilliers case described in the “Brief History of Poisoning,” Robert Browning wrote a poem about it in 1844 titled “The Laboratory.” It’s the monologue of a woman talking to a pharmacist as he prepares a poison for her to use in eliminating a love rival:
Now that I, tying thy glass mask tightly,
May gaze thro’ these faint smokes curling whitely,
As thou pliest thy trade in this devil’s-smithy—
Which is the poison to poison her, prithee?
He is with her, and they know that I know
Where they are, what they do: they believe my tears flow
While they laugh, laugh at me, at me fled to the drear
Empty church, to pray God in, for them!—I am here.
Grind away, moisten and mash up thy paste,
Pound at thy powder,—I am not in haste!
Better sit thus and observe thy strange things,
Than go where men wait me and dance at the King’s.
That in the mortar—you call it a gum?
Ah, the brave tree whence such gold oozings come!
And yonder soft phial, the exquisite blue,
Sure to taste sweetly,—is that poison too?
Had I but all of them, thee and thy treasures,
What a wild crowd of invisible pleasures!
To carry pure death in an earring, a casket,
A signet, a fan-mount, a filigree basket!
Soon, at the King’s, a mere lozenge to give
And Pauline should have just thirty minutes to live!
But to light a pastille, and Elise, with her head
And her breast and her arms and her hands, should drop dead!
Quick—is it finished? The colour’s too grim!
Why not soft like the phial’s, enticing and dim?
Let it brighten her drink, let her turn it and stir,
And try it and taste, ere she fix and prefer!
What a drop! She’s not little, no minion like me—
That’s why she ensnared him: this never will free
The soul from those masculine eyes,—say, “no!”
To that pulse’s magnificent come-and-go.
For only last night, as they whispered, I brought
My own eyes to bear on her so, that I thought
Could I keep them one half minute fixed, she would fall,
Shrivelled; she fell not; yet this does it all!
Not that I bid you spare her the pain!
Let death be felt and the proof remain;
Brand, burn up, bite into its grace—
He is sure to remember her dying face!
Is it done? Take my mask off! Nay, be not morose;
It kills her, and this prevents seeing it close:
The delicate droplet, my whole fortune’s fee—
If it hurts her, beside, can it ever hurt me?
Now, take all my jewels, gorge gold to your fill,
You may kiss me, old man, on my mouth if you will!
But brush this dust off me, lest horror it brings
Ere I know it—next moment I dance at the King’s!
[The king, of course, is Louis XIV.]
NoriApril 7, 2022, 9:03 PM
What a delicious bite of poison apple from long ago!
Our current crop of bought and paid for pharmacists are brothers/sisters in the arms of their paymasters. Walgreens/CVS still pimping out the Vaxx & xxx boosters,despite horrendous evidence of their toxicity.
Is it done? Take my mask off! Nay,be not morose;
It kills her,and this prevents seeing it close:
The delicate droplet,my whole fortune’s fee-
If it ever hurts her,beside,can it ever hurt me?
We shall see,not-so-good sirs and madams…we shall see.
ghostsniperApril 8, 2022, 4:10 AM
What a delicious bite of poison apple from long ago!
========
From more lately:
Halestorm! What a great name for a rock band,and they live up to it. Love the video.Ms Lzzy does the 40’s sultry singer very well,with the princess neckline gown and Black Rose lipstick. It’s a neat twist,poisoning her with her own lipstick;as is the blood in the water at the end.
Had’nt heard of Halestorm,but I have now,thanks Ghost.
PA CatApril 8, 2022, 10:26 AM
Nori–
If you’re interested in the role of a case of mass poisoning in the FDA’s acquisition of new powers during the New Deal, here’s an account of the 1937 Elixir Sulfanilamide disaster. Elixir Sulfanilamide was an improperly prepared oral antibiotic that was sold by the S.E. Massengill Company, a small pharma company headquartered in Tennessee. The company hired a chemist to prepare a solution of sulfanilamide (a sulfa antibiotic) that could be taken by mouth. The chemist used diethylene glycol (a chemical relative of the ethylene glycol used to make antifreeze) to dissolve the sulfanilamide powder, apparently not knowing that diethylene glycol is as poisonous to humans as its cousin used in antifreeze. As the elixir had not been tested on animals (a precaution that was not required by law in 1937), it was placed on sale in September 1937. By early October, the AMA had been notified of patient deaths caused by the drug; the death toll eventually mounted to over 100 adults and children, and the process of death due to kidney failure was agonizing. A Canadian/American pharmacologist named Frances Kelsey (who became famous in the early 1960s for refusing to authorize the sale of thalidomide in the United States) proved that it was the diethylene glycol in Elixir Sulfanilamide that was poisonous. The short-term result of the tragedy (in addition to the unfortunate chemist’s suicide) was the passage of the 1938 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which significantly increased the FDA’s regulatory powers; the long-term result was the ongoing expansion of the FDA’s powers and influence.
Very interesting,informative,and sad. My inner cynic doubts that a BigPharma chemist of today would suffer the remorse that Watkins did. Remorse is like ethics,so last century.
The evolution of all the 3-letter .gov agencies is so predictable. They start out with the noblest of intentions,and wind up on that paved road straight to Hell.
Which is where we are now,awaiting the next dose of their pretty poisons.
God helps those who help themselves. Thanks for the good read,PA Cat.
Honking Clown Horns of JerichoApril 7, 2022, 6:56 PM
Human genomes are a construct of the white male patriarchy.
NYC? Pace Picante Sauce.
2+2=potato.
We can haez cheeseburger? Yes we can!
The shadow play photo is exquisite. It calls to my mind late afternoons spent deep in the woods, alongside a trout stream, waiting for the evening rise.
Ahhh, John I for one can’t wait. Was at 7400 ft elv most of today, spent at least one half hour, lying on the bank. Watching the clouds, and tying flys in my minds eye. Everything was perfect I tell ya, perfect.
John HenryApril 8, 2022, 7:30 AM
One story Tuesday said that Nancy’s test may be bogus.
She was supposed to visit Taiwan and China got mightily upset.
The alleged positive test is a way of backing out gracefully
Tom HylandApril 8, 2022, 8:44 AM
All are lies and subterfuge emanating from the White House and Congress. Obama never left Washington and in fact bought a 9 million dollar house just blocks away from his former domicile. Obama has been driving the faggot clown car and has recommended every obscene addition to the American agenda. Hunter’s laptop ain’t going away. One comment below this article says so much, “The Bidens are all pedophiles, and today they’re pushing pedophilia through every government agency. In other words, trying to normalize the behavior.” https://tinyurl.com/yck4twh6
Sick people
I know of only one sure fire way to cure that crazy ass disease. Am told smaller doses,,, say.22 short is a cure all. Any bigger apparently someones taken the disease personal.
OneGuyApril 8, 2022, 8:49 AM
I thought the CDR Salamander piece was a little hypocritical. He essentially used fake news to refute what he felt was fake news. There are people who have a mindset that Qanon or someone made up this war and all the dead bodies are fake news. Then they try to justify their position.
JustMeApril 8, 2022, 8:54 AM
Many years ago when my kids were teething we used something called a “sugar teat” to ease their teething pain. It was a regular handkerchief tied with a tight ball of sugar that then had drops of whisky added to it. The baby sucked on it to get the sugar and the alcohol eased their pain.
Lance de BoyleApril 8, 2022, 11:24 AM
We were so poor that we couldn’t afford sugar. Or cloth!
We sucked on wood chips.
Sure we got splinters in our throats.
But we LIKED it.
Moreover, we were tough.
Not like today’s babies.
I blame rock and roll.
VanderleunApril 8, 2022, 11:58 AM
BBC? Yeah. This particular documentary film makes is worth following.
Lucretia Borgia never poisoned anybody. That is an early example of fake news, though historians today still write such nonsense. She was renowned for her beauty and sexual escapades, though she was for her time as chaste as she could be. Her problem was that she was, well, a Borgia. This family was originally from Spain, and thus was hated by all Italians—especially those Italians who wrote History. The Borgias, known in Spain as the Borjas, gave the Catholic Church 3 popes. The Borgias were the source of every ruling house of Europe.
The Borgia pope Pope Alexander VI (1431 – 1503) fathered many illegitimate children, one of whom was Cesare Borgia (1475 – 1507). Cesare was the brother of Lucretia, and was the role model for Machiavelli’s “The Prince”. He was the most brilliant condottiere of the Italian Renaissance.
The most outstanding poisoner of all time was—of course—Mithridates VI Eupator of Pontus (120 – 63 BC). He was also after Hannibal the greatest threat the Roman Republic ever faced. He fought 3 wars against Rome (88 – 63 BC), the first of which began when Mithridates ordered the killing of 80,000 Romans and Italians across the Eastern Mediterranean—called the Asiatic Vespers. He was quite the colorful figure, and put to death the Roman Consul Manius Aquillius by pouring molten gold down his throat. Marius, Sulla and Julius Caesar all participated in these Mithridatic Wars.
Had enough History for now?
PA CatApril 8, 2022, 11:16 AM
How could you leave out Mithridates’ ingestion of sub-lethal doses of various toxins in order to protect himself against being poisoned by his enemies? He supposedly invented a concoction called the mithridate, which functioned like an antidote and contained as many as 65 different ingredients. According to one ancient account, the recipe for the mithridate was found in Mithridates’ cabinet after his death and taken to Rome by Pompey.
Anyhoo . . . my first encounter with the story of Mithridates came through A.E. Housman’s A Shropshire Lad, which was required reading when I was in high school back in the pre-Woke Dark Ages. From the last section of the poem titled “Terence, This Is Stupid Stuff”:
There was a king reigned in the East:
There, when kings will sit to feast,
They get their fill before they think
With poisoned meat and poisoned drink.
He gathered all that springs to birth
From the many-venomed earth;
First a little, thence to more,
He sampled all her killing store;
And easy, smiling, seasoned sound,
Sate the king when healths went round.
They put arsenic in his meat
And stared aghast to watch him eat;
They poured strychnine in his cup
And shook to see him drink it up:
They shook, they stared as white’s their shirt:
Them it was their poison hurt.
–I tell the tale that I heard told.
Mithridates, he died old.
Quite right. I simply did not want to repeat what was vaguely referenced in the essay. Incidentally, I have studied Mithridates for over 40 years, but I had forgotten the story of Pompey and Mithridates’ potion. Good call.
Excellent reads: “The Poison King” by Adrienne Meyer, and “Empire of the Black Sea: The Rise and Fall of the Mithridatic World” by Duane Roller. Colleen McCullough, in her “Masters of Rome” series, has a great deal on Mithridates and his wars against Rome. She captures him perfectly.
“Mithridates, he died old.” Yes he did.
ThisIsNotNutellaApril 8, 2022, 6:22 PM
He died old and hard. But all things considered, the juice probably *was* worth the squeeze.
And irony of ironies, his demise was the poison pill which eventually, after centuries, took down the Romans. The East and its peoples and practices and wealth was just a bit too much to ingest.
A bit like winning in 1945. Except things run faster these days.
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
CDR Salamander: We Now Have a Paired Box Canyon War
President Barack Obama Returns To White House After Growing Tired Of Working Remotely
Emergence Cannot Explain Intelligence — Planetary Or Otherwise 
Connecting the dots of the COVID lie 
Scientists Finally Sequence the Entire Human Genome
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
I enjoyed watching the real estate video, but the NY apartment wasn’t appealing. It was built of oddly cobbled together ancient pieces of wood and stone, the results weren’t beautiful, the views weren’t restful. I live in the countryside where I can look at tall pines and fields that roll down to the lake, at exactly .001 the cost of that barrenness. I haven’t watched the whole thing though. Maybe it gets better. Maybe I’ll understand it better in the morning.
Teething syrup:
At Walgreen’s looking for non-alcoholic mouthwash a few years ago, I notice a largish package on the shelf, a roughly cylindrical brown paper cover on a bottle. The paper was rather the same as Listerine bottles were packaged sometime back, rigid but flexible. I read the label and it was 36% alcohol and meant to be diluted to four parts. 1 quart/$12.99/72 proof.
Don’t recall the brand and that was the only time I saw it displayed.
Apropos of the Marquise de Brinvilliers case described in the “Brief History of Poisoning,” Robert Browning wrote a poem about it in 1844 titled “The Laboratory.” It’s the monologue of a woman talking to a pharmacist as he prepares a poison for her to use in eliminating a love rival:
Now that I, tying thy glass mask tightly,
May gaze thro’ these faint smokes curling whitely,
As thou pliest thy trade in this devil’s-smithy—
Which is the poison to poison her, prithee?
He is with her, and they know that I know
Where they are, what they do: they believe my tears flow
While they laugh, laugh at me, at me fled to the drear
Empty church, to pray God in, for them!—I am here.
Grind away, moisten and mash up thy paste,
Pound at thy powder,—I am not in haste!
Better sit thus and observe thy strange things,
Than go where men wait me and dance at the King’s.
That in the mortar—you call it a gum?
Ah, the brave tree whence such gold oozings come!
And yonder soft phial, the exquisite blue,
Sure to taste sweetly,—is that poison too?
Had I but all of them, thee and thy treasures,
What a wild crowd of invisible pleasures!
To carry pure death in an earring, a casket,
A signet, a fan-mount, a filigree basket!
Soon, at the King’s, a mere lozenge to give
And Pauline should have just thirty minutes to live!
But to light a pastille, and Elise, with her head
And her breast and her arms and her hands, should drop dead!
Quick—is it finished? The colour’s too grim!
Why not soft like the phial’s, enticing and dim?
Let it brighten her drink, let her turn it and stir,
And try it and taste, ere she fix and prefer!
What a drop! She’s not little, no minion like me—
That’s why she ensnared him: this never will free
The soul from those masculine eyes,—say, “no!”
To that pulse’s magnificent come-and-go.
For only last night, as they whispered, I brought
My own eyes to bear on her so, that I thought
Could I keep them one half minute fixed, she would fall,
Shrivelled; she fell not; yet this does it all!
Not that I bid you spare her the pain!
Let death be felt and the proof remain;
Brand, burn up, bite into its grace—
He is sure to remember her dying face!
Is it done? Take my mask off! Nay, be not morose;
It kills her, and this prevents seeing it close:
The delicate droplet, my whole fortune’s fee—
If it hurts her, beside, can it ever hurt me?
Now, take all my jewels, gorge gold to your fill,
You may kiss me, old man, on my mouth if you will!
But brush this dust off me, lest horror it brings
Ere I know it—next moment I dance at the King’s!
[The king, of course, is Louis XIV.]
What a delicious bite of poison apple from long ago!
Our current crop of bought and paid for pharmacists are brothers/sisters in the arms of their paymasters. Walgreens/CVS still pimping out the Vaxx & xxx boosters,despite horrendous evidence of their toxicity.
Is it done? Take my mask off! Nay,be not morose;
It kills her,and this prevents seeing it close:
The delicate droplet,my whole fortune’s fee-
If it ever hurts her,beside,can it ever hurt me?
We shall see,not-so-good sirs and madams…we shall see.
What a delicious bite of poison apple from long ago!
========
From more lately:
The Familiar Taste of Poison
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHZKPYQnsmc
Halestorm! What a great name for a rock band,and they live up to it. Love the video.Ms Lzzy does the 40’s sultry singer very well,with the princess neckline gown and Black Rose lipstick. It’s a neat twist,poisoning her with her own lipstick;as is the blood in the water at the end.
Had’nt heard of Halestorm,but I have now,thanks Ghost.
Nori–
If you’re interested in the role of a case of mass poisoning in the FDA’s acquisition of new powers during the New Deal, here’s an account of the 1937 Elixir Sulfanilamide disaster. Elixir Sulfanilamide was an improperly prepared oral antibiotic that was sold by the S.E. Massengill Company, a small pharma company headquartered in Tennessee. The company hired a chemist to prepare a solution of sulfanilamide (a sulfa antibiotic) that could be taken by mouth. The chemist used diethylene glycol (a chemical relative of the ethylene glycol used to make antifreeze) to dissolve the sulfanilamide powder, apparently not knowing that diethylene glycol is as poisonous to humans as its cousin used in antifreeze. As the elixir had not been tested on animals (a precaution that was not required by law in 1937), it was placed on sale in September 1937. By early October, the AMA had been notified of patient deaths caused by the drug; the death toll eventually mounted to over 100 adults and children, and the process of death due to kidney failure was agonizing. A Canadian/American pharmacologist named Frances Kelsey (who became famous in the early 1960s for refusing to authorize the sale of thalidomide in the United States) proved that it was the diethylene glycol in Elixir Sulfanilamide that was poisonous. The short-term result of the tragedy (in addition to the unfortunate chemist’s suicide) was the passage of the 1938 Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which significantly increased the FDA’s regulatory powers; the long-term result was the ongoing expansion of the FDA’s powers and influence.
Here is a link to an article about the Elixir Sulfanilamide disaster (from an FDA source, but it’s still a useful account of a pre-OxyContin, pre-Pfizer, and pre-Moderna pharmaceutical scandal):
https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/histories-product-regulation/sulfanilamide-disaster
Very interesting,informative,and sad. My inner cynic doubts that a BigPharma chemist of today would suffer the remorse that Watkins did. Remorse is like ethics,so last century.
The evolution of all the 3-letter .gov agencies is so predictable. They start out with the noblest of intentions,and wind up on that paved road straight to Hell.
Which is where we are now,awaiting the next dose of their pretty poisons.
God helps those who help themselves. Thanks for the good read,PA Cat.
Human genomes are a construct of the white male patriarchy.
NYC? Pace Picante Sauce.
2+2=potato.
We can haez cheeseburger? Yes we can!
The shadow play photo is exquisite. It calls to my mind late afternoons spent deep in the woods, alongside a trout stream, waiting for the evening rise.
Ahhh, John I for one can’t wait. Was at 7400 ft elv most of today, spent at least one half hour, lying on the bank. Watching the clouds, and tying flys in my minds eye. Everything was perfect I tell ya, perfect.
One story Tuesday said that Nancy’s test may be bogus.
She was supposed to visit Taiwan and China got mightily upset.
The alleged positive test is a way of backing out gracefully
All are lies and subterfuge emanating from the White House and Congress. Obama never left Washington and in fact bought a 9 million dollar house just blocks away from his former domicile. Obama has been driving the faggot clown car and has recommended every obscene addition to the American agenda. Hunter’s laptop ain’t going away. One comment below this article says so much, “The Bidens are all pedophiles, and today they’re pushing pedophilia through every government agency. In other words, trying to normalize the behavior.” https://tinyurl.com/yck4twh6
Sick people
I know of only one sure fire way to cure that crazy ass disease. Am told smaller doses,,, say.22 short is a cure all. Any bigger apparently someones taken the disease personal.
I thought the CDR Salamander piece was a little hypocritical. He essentially used fake news to refute what he felt was fake news. There are people who have a mindset that Qanon or someone made up this war and all the dead bodies are fake news. Then they try to justify their position.
Many years ago when my kids were teething we used something called a “sugar teat” to ease their teething pain. It was a regular handkerchief tied with a tight ball of sugar that then had drops of whisky added to it. The baby sucked on it to get the sugar and the alcohol eased their pain.
We were so poor that we couldn’t afford sugar. Or cloth!
We sucked on wood chips.
Sure we got splinters in our throats.
But we LIKED it.
Moreover, we were tough.
Not like today’s babies.
I blame rock and roll.
BBC? Yeah. This particular documentary film makes is worth following.
Lucretia Borgia never poisoned anybody. That is an early example of fake news, though historians today still write such nonsense. She was renowned for her beauty and sexual escapades, though she was for her time as chaste as she could be. Her problem was that she was, well, a Borgia. This family was originally from Spain, and thus was hated by all Italians—especially those Italians who wrote History. The Borgias, known in Spain as the Borjas, gave the Catholic Church 3 popes. The Borgias were the source of every ruling house of Europe.
The Borgia pope Pope Alexander VI (1431 – 1503) fathered many illegitimate children, one of whom was Cesare Borgia (1475 – 1507). Cesare was the brother of Lucretia, and was the role model for Machiavelli’s “The Prince”. He was the most brilliant condottiere of the Italian Renaissance.
The most outstanding poisoner of all time was—of course—Mithridates VI Eupator of Pontus (120 – 63 BC). He was also after Hannibal the greatest threat the Roman Republic ever faced. He fought 3 wars against Rome (88 – 63 BC), the first of which began when Mithridates ordered the killing of 80,000 Romans and Italians across the Eastern Mediterranean—called the Asiatic Vespers. He was quite the colorful figure, and put to death the Roman Consul Manius Aquillius by pouring molten gold down his throat. Marius, Sulla and Julius Caesar all participated in these Mithridatic Wars.
Had enough History for now?
How could you leave out Mithridates’ ingestion of sub-lethal doses of various toxins in order to protect himself against being poisoned by his enemies? He supposedly invented a concoction called the mithridate, which functioned like an antidote and contained as many as 65 different ingredients. According to one ancient account, the recipe for the mithridate was found in Mithridates’ cabinet after his death and taken to Rome by Pompey.
Anyhoo . . . my first encounter with the story of Mithridates came through A.E. Housman’s A Shropshire Lad, which was required reading when I was in high school back in the pre-Woke Dark Ages. From the last section of the poem titled “Terence, This Is Stupid Stuff”:
There was a king reigned in the East:
There, when kings will sit to feast,
They get their fill before they think
With poisoned meat and poisoned drink.
He gathered all that springs to birth
From the many-venomed earth;
First a little, thence to more,
He sampled all her killing store;
And easy, smiling, seasoned sound,
Sate the king when healths went round.
They put arsenic in his meat
And stared aghast to watch him eat;
They poured strychnine in his cup
And shook to see him drink it up:
They shook, they stared as white’s their shirt:
Them it was their poison hurt.
–I tell the tale that I heard told.
Mithridates, he died old.
Quite right. I simply did not want to repeat what was vaguely referenced in the essay. Incidentally, I have studied Mithridates for over 40 years, but I had forgotten the story of Pompey and Mithridates’ potion. Good call.
Excellent reads: “The Poison King” by Adrienne Meyer, and “Empire of the Black Sea: The Rise and Fall of the Mithridatic World” by Duane Roller. Colleen McCullough, in her “Masters of Rome” series, has a great deal on Mithridates and his wars against Rome. She captures him perfectly.
“Mithridates, he died old.” Yes he did.
He died old and hard. But all things considered, the juice probably *was* worth the squeeze.
And irony of ironies, his demise was the poison pill which eventually, after centuries, took down the Romans. The East and its peoples and practices and wealth was just a bit too much to ingest.
A bit like winning in 1945. Except things run faster these days.
Just part of the Obama agenda… get the Jackson freak placed onto the Supreme Court. Mission accomplished. This thing… because she doesn’t know what a woman is plus she refuses to acknowledge that Americans have inalienable Rights… is celebrated in the Cape Cod region… another Obama palatial location. Romney voted for the thing. https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/2022/04/08/praise-ketanji-brown-jackson-supreme-court-confirmation/9499179002/
The Levitt/Segal article is a fake. It’s been floating around the Netz for about three years, and people keep falling for it.