Hello, Day 09. Let me tell you about Day 08.
I liked what we did yesterday, so let me explain it in more detail. I’ll be going into more detail, I think, because I believe that in its own small way, this may be read as a narration into America’s decline and eventual collapse. Things are getting grimmer, so I’ll continue to write as this dream returns piece by piece, in flames to the Earth. Yesterday, I wrote about Day 07 as I was drinking coffee (in my house we jokingly call it "covfefe”, or “all the negative press covfefe”…if you think about it, it works) and I listed the news stories I saw as I refreshed Reddit over and over again. I will do that, but let me make coffee first.
In the meanwhile, have a listen to Sumac Dub’s new album, Norska. They’re this group out of Grenoble that makes fitting music for a pirate broadcast.
Before I go into what is truly a litany, a list of complaints the country makes as it grows, I’d wager, (not dies) away from its adolescent totalitarian edginess, I’ll mention that I listened yesterday to an address by a real politician: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. She ordered, as far as she has any capacity to order anyone, she ordered anyone with any signs of illness whatsoever to remain in their homes indefinitely. We all thought she was going to implement a “shelter-in-place” order, but she did not. She spoke well and clearly, with some positivity too. All that said, she is delaying the inevitable, and I can’t decide if it’s a good or bad tactic. By shutting the city down in stages, her kindness is in protecting her people from a jarring lifestyle shift. On the other hand, this is real and Italy was the test case and it’s on display right now, on the world stage, what happens in a western democracy when this fucking plague isn’t taken absolutely seriously. It’s like a sci-fi movie over there: all the buildings and infrastructure and cultural notes are there, but there are no people to be seen. Think about it: that is the type of sentence an archaeologist might write upon unearthing what has been purported to be a lost civilization’s remnants. So while it’s up in the air for some people, we’ve been self-isolating a week now.
Let’s look at some of today’s headlines:
Entire Georgia Senate told to self-quarantine after Republican shows up despite coronavirus test. “I’m shaking with rage,” a colleague said. “He irresponsibly stayed all day at the Capitol and exposed all of us.” - Salon
‘Nature is taking back Venice’: Wildlife returns to tourist-free city - With the cruise ships gone and the souvenir stalls closed, the coronavirus lockdown has transformed La Serenissima’s waterways - The Guardian
Pixar’s Onward is coming to the US tonight on digital download and will be streaming on Disney Plus on April 3rd - Twitter
Four US Senators sold stocks before coronavirus threat crashed market - The Hill
More than 50,000 people in Italy charged with breaking quarantine rules - those flouting the rules can face fines or even a prison sentence, as Italian authorities fight to stop the spread of the coronavirus - The Local.it
Hong Kong netizens estimates real Wuhan Coronavirus death figures in China to be >10 mil using domestic ISP subscriber loss figures - LIHKG (This is an example of fake news. How exciting! How does one tell? Because OP titled it “Wuhan Coronavirus”, which is a variant of a phrase American conservatives are trying to push into common parlance. The cumulative cognitive effect, if the world starts using phrases like this, is that people will believe that only China is to blame for the outbreak. This is a lie, of course, as each country’s government is responsible in its own territory.)
They. Sold. Their. Stock. They could have made a difference, but they made a profit. - New York Times
“ It’s almost like the United States has no President - we are a rudderless ship heading for a major disaster. Good luck everyone!” - Donald J. Trump, March 19, 2014, Twitter
Not-yet-published article: Obesity is a risk factor for the exact same reason cancer is. Too many cells which make the binding enzyme for this virus. - PrePrints
It’s time we hold the president and conservative media accountable for their misinformation campaign. - Yahoo News
4 Senators sold stock before steep market losses from virus - Las Vegas Review-Journal
Sen. Richard Burr, who sold stock before recent market decline, voted in 2012 against banning insider trading for Congress - Washington Post
A critical care nurse in Britain has made a tearful appeal to members of the public to stop stripping supermarket shelves of food after she came off a shift and was unable to buy supplies for her family. - Twitter
First arrest on UK soil for ‘failing to self-isolate due to coronavirus’: 26-year-old male faces 10,000 pound fine and three months in jail after arriving on isle of Man then ‘refusing to go into 14-day quarantine’ - Daily Mail
George R.R. Martin Says Coronavirus Has Led to More Work on The Winds of Winter - CBR.com
So that is the climate today, as it has presented itself down my newsfeed. Some people are advocating for the return of the guillotine for those senators that insider-traded around coronavirus news, and I have to agree that it would set a good precedent for the wealthy, a reminder about what the underclasses’ last line of defense remains to be, even in these sophisticated times. Make not beasts of men, lest they behave as beasts.
Shuttered hair salon.
A child’s toy in the mud and amidst a constellation of cigarette butts.
If you look closely, you can recognize a subtly arcing magenta corona passing through the image.