The Grippe

poor georgie's almanack:

The “Grippe” is another name for flu.

US President John Tyler has been called the Donald Trump of the 1840s, in part because of their shared views on immigration. Tyler was inciting Protestant attacks on Irish Catholics. Trump’s targets are different, but the language used is similar.

Tyler has the dubious honor of being the only US President for whom an epidemic is named.

He had been elevated from VP in 1841 when old “Tippecanoe” (President William Henry Harrison) died a month after his inauguration. He died from what became known as the “Tyler Grippe.”

Trump and Pence say the current flu is no-one’s fault. Certainly, they would gripe if it becomes known as the “Trump Tragedy” or the “Pence Pandemic.”

poor georgie’s almanack

Optimism is so passé.

Except in the left field bleachers at Washington Nationals baseball park at game 4 of the 2019 World Series. 

Sole Isolation

poor georgie’s almanack:

Shoeless on the 9th floor.

These are not times that try men’s soles.

At this rate my sole will live eternally.

Normal

poor georgie’s almanack:

There are many people in my country and yours who wake up in the morning and act totally normal.

The Black Death

poor georgie’s almanack:

When medics and care-givers are in isolation will we relive the 14th Century “Black Death” Plague? It spread from China to Europe, where it killed about half the population.

Origins of plague and virus pandemics differ, but not the results.

Flu Flew

poor georgie's almanack:
My family was deeply affected by the Spanish Flu virus (also known as H1N1 or Swine Flu) in 1918.  It was far from the biggest pandemic humans have experienced, yet about 50 million died worldwide from that form of influenza.  My mother was one of four sisters.  Their only brother died at age 13 of the flu.  Fifty years later the sisters still were in mourning.

People did not know what caused the flu but they were aware the virus could be carried by air. Variations of the following rhyme, a wordplay on "influenza," were repeated over and over while the girls were skipping rope in 1918.
"I had a little bird,
And its name was Enza.
I opened the window
And in-flew-enza."