Friday, February 3, 2023
The slow end of the Diaspora
“Norway risks becoming a country without a Jewish population,” says an editorial in Aftenposten. According to the newspaper, 20 percent of the two largest communities (Oslo and Trondheim) have left. “Norway could be the first country in Europe to become jüdenfrei,” wrote journalist Julie Bindel. The synagogues of Oslo and Trondheim are the most protected buildings in all of Norway.
Tuesday, January 31, 2023
A day wasted
Monday, January 30, 2023
About my farm in Argentina
I looked up the prices of farms in Pancho Cue (Argentina) and there are several farms like mine on sale. The prices are low, like 2200 US$/hectare that is 35200. I had planted Pino caribe for forestry and they told me that it had grown beautifully. A middle sized estancia in the same area, of 300 hectares is being offered at 790,000 dollars. Good that I did not feel tied down to the land and left everything.
Sunday, January 29, 2023
Thinking of Rome
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.
Thursday, January 26, 2023
Put your head on my shoulder...
Put your head on my shoulder
Hold me in your arms, baby
Squeeze me oh-so-tight
Only you and you alone can thrill me like you do
And fill my heart with love for only you
That'll be the day, oh-oh
That'll be the day, oh-oh
That'll be the day
Monday, January 23, 2023
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!
Saturday, January 21, 2023
I am betting on ICL
Yahoo Finance (my favorite source) writes today: