Rewriting history

“The president tried to rewrite his history with advising Americans about the coronavirus. His own words prove him wrong”: "Trump Now Claims He Always Knew the Coronavirus Would Be a Pandemic" (The New York Times).

Or as a non-Times writer once put it, “The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” Yes, that’s George Orwell, in Nineteen Eighty-Four. And here is Orwell on totalitarian history.

*

And some video evidence:

As Trump pivots to coronavirus crisis mode, let’s not forget the months of downplaying and denial. pic.twitter.com/gH1xZAHXm5

— The Recount (@therecount) March 17, 2020

Two Williams

[William Butler Yeats. Bain News Service, photographer unknown, c. 1915–1920. From the Library of Congress Flickr account. Click for a larger view.]

On this Saint Patrick’s Day, William Butler Yeats reminds us of the importance of social distancing as he holds a volume of William Blake’s poetry to his chest. Stand back, says the Irish William, and don’t you dare try to touch my book.

Please, stand back. No bars. No parties. Stay home if your life and work allow that. Enjoy some Bewley’s or Jameson in your own living room. Happy Saint Patrick’s Day.

[Bewley’s is tea, Irish; Jameson, whiskey, Irish. The name Leddy, also Irish.]

Hat trick

WAFA.

Wealth, illusion, corruption

Father Gervase Knopwood aims to disillusion young David Staunton about his father Boy Staunton, “a great man of business.” Knoppy doesn’t go so far as to suggest that the elder Staunton was dishonest:


Robertson Davies, The Manticore (1972).

Other Robertson Davies posts
“Fellows of the first importance” : “Visible branch establishments” : “Like a duck to water” : “A designer and a manufacturer” : “The intrepid Orph” : “The socks-shorts moment”

A last autocorrection

I’m done with iOS autocorrection, which has messed up my writing again and again. The last straw: in this post, autocorrect turned Asaf Bitton into Asaf Burton. I didn’t see the change until several hours later. No thanks.

I’m done with macOS autocorrection too. Now all mistakes will be my own.

A movement for these times

It’s #StayTheFuckHome. Not a joke. With twelve guidelines, in order of increasing difficulty and effectiveness.

Not everyone can stay the, &c. The first nine guidelines are probably within the reach of most readers.

Store talk

“Go and buy. Enjoy it. Have a nice dinner. Relax”: Donald Trump*, a few minutes ago.

“Not a snow day”

Asaf Bitton, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, offers recommendations for social distancing. “This is not,” he says, “a snow day”:

the only strategies that can get us off this concerning trajectory are those that enable us to work together as a community to maintain public health by staying apart.

*

March 16: The Boston Globe has an updated, expanded version of this piece.

Today’s Zippy

[Zippy, March 15, 2020. Click for a larger view.]

Today’s Zippy feels like a cross between Bill Griffith and Roz Chast. How many boxes can you check? (Me, eight.)

Related reading
All OCA Zippy posts (Pinboard)

Flattening the curve

From The Washington Post: “Why outbreaks like coronavirus spread exponentially, and how to ‘flatten the curve.’”

The graphics make the point: “If people are less mobile and interact with each other less, the virus has fewer opportunities to spread.”

Elaine and I stayed inside today, with short trips to the garage to use the elliptical machine. If the weather is better tomorrow, we’ll go for a walk in the open air. And that’ll be it.

Thanks, Rachel.