When Michigan activists protested in drive-in Operation Gridlock, police noted that in their cars, citizens were inadvertently practicing safe, social distancing. Not so in Orlando, where unmasked citrus cankers breathed and sneezed and coughed at will. The numbers can’t be real: 2⅓-million cases globally, 33 383 in Canada, ¾-million in the US, 25½-thousand in Florida, 3000+ in Central Florida– apparently fake news, including 78 local deaths.
The last time I agreed with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer was, um, pretty much never, but damn, folks. We’re trying to save lives.
Central Floridians took matters a step further into the Twilight Zone. They contend Dr. Anthony Fauci is a lying, malevolent hoaxer who inexplicably holds the President’s ear, deliberately wreaking havoc at the Federal level. Fauci’s motives are, um, deep state, Obamacare-coddling, and a really nasty infection that afflicted Florida’s governor. Whatever, it demanded protesting.
By the Numbers
Politicians may choose to ignore the science, but it’s difficult to ignore the math. Updating as you read this, the count of cases and deaths are spooky.
Say, each coronavirus victim infects two other people, and those two each infect two others, etc. It doubles exponentially. (The reality is closer to 2½×, but 2× is scary enough and much easier to calculate.)
In an ancient tale from Persia (or India), a king agreed to pay the inventor of chess in rice, one grain on the 1st square of the chessboard, double that (two) on the 2nd square, double again (four) on the 3rd square, and so on for all sixty-four squares. Beginning with Square Zero (think Patient Zero) each square would contain:
№ | results in… | № | results in… | № | results in… | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 | 1 | 22 | 4 194 304 | 44 | 17 592 186 044 416 | |||||
1 | 2 | 23 | 8 388 608 | 45 | 35 184 372 088 832 | |||||
2 | 4 | 24 | 16 777 216 | 46 | 70 368 744 177 664 | |||||
3 | 8 | 25 | 33 554 432 | 47 | 140 737 488 355 328 | |||||
4 | 16 | 26 | 67 108 864 | 48 | 281 474 976 710 656 | |||||
5 | 32 | 27 | 134 217 728 | 49 | 562 949 953 421 312 | |||||
6 | 64 | 28 | 268 435 456 | 50 | 1 125 899 906 842 624 | |||||
7 | 128 | 29 | 536 870 912 | 51 | 2 251 799 813 685 248 | |||||
8 | 256 | 30 | 1 073 741 824 | 52 | 4 503 599 627 370 496 | |||||
9 | 512 | 31 | 2 147 483 648 | 53 | 9 007 199 254 740 992 | |||||
10 | 1 024 | 32 | 4 294 967 296 | 54 | 18 014 398 509 481 984 | |||||
11 | 2 048 | 33 | 8 589 934 592 | 55 | 36 028 797 018 963 968 | |||||
12 | 4 096 | 34 | 17 179 869 184 | 56 | 72 057 594 037 927 936 | |||||
13 | 8 192 | 35 | 34 359 738 368 | 57 | 144 115 188 075 855 872 | |||||
14 | 16 384 | 36 | 68 719 476 736 | 58 | 288 230 376 151 711 744 | |||||
15 | 32 768 | 37 | 137 438 953 472 | 59 | 576 460 752 303 423 488 | |||||
16 | 65 536 | 38 | 274 877 906 944 | 60 | 1 152 921 504 606 846 976 | |||||
17 | 131 072 | 39 | 549 755 813 888 | 61 | 2 305 843 009 213 693 952 | |||||
18 | 262 144 | 40 | 1 099 511 627 776 | 62 | 4 611 686 018 427 387 904 | |||||
19 | 524 288 | 41 | 2 199 023 255 552 | 63 | 9 223 372 036 854 775 808 | |||||
20 | 1 048 576 | 42 | 4 398 046 511 104 | total: | ||||||
21 | 2 097 152 | 43 | 8 796 093 022 208 | • | 18 446 744 073 709 551 615 |
The total, my children, if your eyes haven’t glazed over, is 264-1, or 18 446 744 073 709 551 615, eighteen quintillion. Legends disagree whether the king made the maths wiz an economic advisor or executed the smartass.
The numbers, which start out relatively flat, soon zoom out of control. Relating to coronavirus, say the 10th generation victims infect a thousand more and the 12th another four thousand. The 20th level infects one million and the 30th one trillion. This is why it’s critical to disrupt the spread by masks, isolation, thorough cleansing, and sterilizing public places like Washington. But you knew that, right?
Please take care.
The Left Behind
Many are all atwitter about stimulus checks and several states have moved to protect landlords and tenants. In the rush to pass legislation, Congress and legislatures overlooked some citizens, including many college students and working teens. But here an Florida, another group in dire need has been forgotten. Sean Baker even made a movie about them starring Willem Dafoe.
Stay safe and read on…