to all whom these presents may come, greetings...

"On the other hand it is incredible and scarce to be imagined, how the posts of houses and corners of streets were plastered over with doctors' bills and papers of ignorant fellows, quacking and tampering in physic, and inviting the people to come to them for remedies, which was generally set off with such flourishes as these, viz.: 'Infallible preventive pills against the plague.' 'Neverfailing preservatives against the infection.' 'Sovereign cordials against the corruption of the air.' 'Exact regulations for the conduct of the body in case of an infection.' 'Anti-pestilential pills.' 'Incomparable drink against the plague, never found out before.' 'An universal remedy for the plague.' 'The only true plague water.' 'The royal antidote against all kinds of infections and such a number more that I cannot reckon up; and if I could, would fill a book of themselves to set them down." daniel defoe. a journal of the plague year._______________

someone should muzzle the president toute de suite and stop his bogus quackery...plus the whole easter business is either incredibly naive or hopelessly optimistic ("optimism is cowardice"-ozzie spengler..."optimism is a cognitive distortion of outcomes"-me )...either way his statesman-like demeanor is not helping...and the governing system as a whole is looking ineffective ( although my state has approved me for unemployment benefits...mostly, i think. because of the limitations imposed by the executive order we are going to parse in a bit ) and struggling to get a grip on almost anything...

you might be able to find toilet paper if you have enough gold krugerrands...even then it might be a struggle...crises highlight necessity rather than desires ( and that , too, will come up in the executive order...and will have a lot to do with corporate whining soon enough ) and, apparently, toilet paper is the new medium of exchange......

the governor's "stay at home" order went into effect at 11:59 p.m. yesterday , and while there are measures some will call "draconian"...if you own a movie theater or a nail spa, or if you are burlington coat factory or macy's you are shuttered until april seventh...you can have "minimum business operations" which pretty much means you can have someone there on fire watch and to make sure the heat is on but there will be no browsing the aisles by shoppers...however the exchange addicted still have twenty-three classifications of "essential businesses and operations" and a dozen or so reasons they can leave home to visit them...from working there to shopping for groceries...but walmart has more than groceries so you can pick up some kitsch home decor as well...no one will object...so basically this has enough loopholes that despite "enforcement by local law enforcement and other government agencies" that no one need cower in the basement if they choose not to...and that whole "social distancing" which applies to standing in line at supermarkets? not the one i was at yesterday...people were crowding the check-out lanes with their purchases ( no toilet paper though ) although, admittedly, i heard no coughing...clearing your throat = instant pariah...

a nameless "someone" sent me a photo of their "travel document" which explains their participation in "essential services" and begs authority to allow them freedom of movement...give the somewhat lax wording of the executive order it hardly seems necessary...however...could this be the first step towards internal passports? there is still considerable room for this to be the reichstag fire and i have zero faith in politicians...you may call me paranoid if you like..and i could call you a sheep...hopefully it won't come to that ( i know, creeping optimism )...it still bears watching/considering...the yahoos are braying and lining up to buy more guns...interesting times...the number of cases in the country and my state and my county are up...expected...still arithmetic growth...nothing especially exponential yet...we will see what today's numbers bring...explosive spread is not anything like impossible...especially with al the loopholes...give it time and we will see.