Thinking of Rome

 Reading Livy (but not in the original Latin, as former generations) I arrived to the mystery of the malaria in the gradual weakening of Rome and the Eastern populations in general. The disease appeared around 800 BC in Greece, and advanced westwards along the coastal swamps and wetlands. Possibly the climate was warming up too. 

Malaria is fatal for babies, and they found large cemeteries of babies in Italy, all dead in the same summer epidemy. The parasite evolved, the mosquito evolved and with them human populations, specifically thalassemia and sickle cell (the African variety but mutated independently in Greece too). 

Rome was founded in a swamp of the Tiber river, near the point where it could be traversed, hundred years before the arrival of the disease. When it arrived circa 100 BC, the number of children fell dramatically  (which now is attributed to infertility caused by lead in their wine and cooking in copper pots, although contemporaries attributed it to sheer unwillingness to marry and rear up children, not infertility.) and almost all senatorial families (clans) had disappeared by 100 BC. The lack of Romans  caused the collapse of the Republic when healthy "new immigrants" from the North understood the weakness of the ruling class. This narrative makes more sense than the battles lost and the strategic errors of war leaders. 

Put your head on my shoulder...

Put your head on my shoulder
Hold me in your arms, baby
Squeeze me oh-so-tight

Show me that you love me too…

This Paul Anka song was my first dance at 14 or 15 in Buenos Aires. Now I am 76 live off sweet memories in this Kfar Saba night.  

It has been two years since my working life was scheduled to end. Yet I am still here working in front the monitor trying to imagine fluid dynamics solutions. There is a great uncertainty about how many years I still have and how to spend them. 

Only you can make all this world seem right

Only you can make the darkness bright
Only you and you alone can thrill me like you do
And fill my heart with love for only you

Only youuuuuuuu...! 

Well, that'll be the day, oh-oh
That'll be the day, oh-oh
That'll be the day, oh-oh
That'll be the day

That will be the daaaaayyy...!

Orthostatic

I had an hourlong meeting at a Cheese factory and when quickly standing up, I felt weak. It passed in a minute. This is the second time in a month. 

The most common symptom of orthostatic hypotension is lightheadedness or dizziness when standing after sitting or lying down. Symptoms usually last less than a few minutes.

Orthostatic hypotension signs and symptoms include:

• Lightheadedness or dizziness upon standing
• Blurry vision
• Weakness
• Fainting (syncope)
• Confusion  
• The numerous possible causes for orthostatic hypotension include certain medications (e.g. alpha blockers - I take them), autonomic neuropathy, decreased blood volume, multiple system atrophy, and age-related blood-vessel stiffness.

• Apart from addressing the underlying cause, orthostatic hypotension may be treated with a recommendation to increase salt and water intake (to increase the blood volume), wearing compression stockings, and sometimes medication (fludrocortisone, midodrine, or others). I am on a no salt diet! 

I am betting on ICL

Yahoo Finance (my favorite source) writes today: 

"Investors in ICL Group Ltd ICL need to pay close attention to the stock based on moves in the options market lately. That is because the Mar 17, 2023 $2.50 Call had some of the highest implied volatility of all equity options today.

Implied volatility shows how much movement the market is expecting in the future. Options with high levels of implied volatility suggest that investors in the underlying stocks are expecting a big move in one direction or the other. It could also mean there is an event coming up soon that may cause a big rally or a huge sell-off."

Leadership

Sundar Pichai, the boss of Google, the latest of Big Tech's titans to slash employees in droves. To date, tech's biggest names have slashed almost 50,000 jobs. 

The wave of hi-tech sackings follows Twitter's action of reducing in one dramatic move, half of its personnel. The remaining half is has understood and is starting to take work seriously. Everybody now sees that most of the employees were adding nothing to the profits. Musk is a tremendous business leader, he dared to do the unconceivable and a whole industry is following him. 

I am reading Ender's Game that deals with leadership. I am not enjoying that book.  

To everyone according to its needs"

 
In America, "new" water pricing models are being proposed. 

“While other common goods like roads and libraries are funded collectively through fees, tax revenue, and combination of the two, water services are funded by individual customer payments,” according to the report. “Water and wastewater utilities rely almost exclusively on revenue from residential, commercial, and industrial customers within their service areas.”

With some $4.92 billion in annual revenue loss due to unpaid bills for the water sector, many utilities have turned to customer assistance programs like flexible payment options to avoid shutoffs for lower-income consumers. But many within the industry argue that this is not a fundamental solution to the problem.

Instead, the US Water Alliance proposes the use of “innovative pricing models” that would see water bills decrease for most low-income households and increase for higher-income households through property-based charges that account for things like parcel areas, building footprints, property values, and more.

“By developing rates that are affordable for everyone, utilities can collect more revenue from customers who can afford to pay without burdening those who cannot,” according to the report. “Changes to rate and pricing structures automatically reach everyone: there is no need to apply or enroll, or to track customer data and manage programs.”

CAPREX

In the University of La Plata, we had to wait in the corridor in front of the exam room, where three professors formed an exam panel of the students at the end of the semester, we all suffered from CAPREX - cagazo pre-examen, the dread before the exam. Our exams were in person and oral, standing in front of a panel of three very serious old professors.  While waiting to be called in, many felt they were not ready and went home. Others took benzedrine pills or gave one more fast re-reading to their notes. My way of diminishing the fear was to talk to other examinees. From yesterday I have to call the BODEK Lior, the examiner of a project submitted to the Ramat Gan Water Corporation, and I was postponing it till today 11 AM out of sheer fear. When called him, he excused himself because he is in and asked to discuss the issue next Sunday. Suddenly, I feel so light and happy!