Social Security

From Dorothy Dawe:

A higher than normal concentration of Trump’s lies, lezzais-faire approach, failed leadership, and dereliction of duty has put the county in a precarious position if the face of the current global pandemic.  Fortunately, in spite of Trump’s failed leadership, business leaders and local and state politicians have taken matters into their own hands. 

Pictured at the right:  A timeline of Trump's COVID-19 statements.  I'm not sure who made this timeline; however, I saw it on Twitter via @Alex_Verbeek.  Click the image to enlarge.

Pictured below:  Trump prepares for a press briefing on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Who knows how long all of this madness will last.
 
The latest warning:  The CDC recommends that gatherings of 50 people or more be cancelled or postponed FOR THE NEXT 8 WEEKS.
 
Of course, one of the most effective strategies to slow the curve is social distancing, a tactic first conceived by Emmett Lee Dickinson during an outbreak of yellow fever in 1878.
 
At that time, he wrote his poem “The distance that the live must stand” (below on the left).  His poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem “The distance that the dead have gone” (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:
 
The distance that the live must stand
Does not at first appear –
That coming back seems possible
For months if not a year.
 
And now, that we must follow this
We more than half have hope
We might survive these trying times
Without that shifty dope.

By Emily Dickinson:
 
The distance that the dead have gone
Does not at first appear --
Their coming back seems possible
For many an ardent year.

And then, that we have followed them,
We more than half suspect,
So intimate have we become
With their dear retrospect.