As Trump abdicates leadership role, California, Oregon, and Washington band together

Attorney Scott Pilutik wrestles with the news of the day, from a lawyerly perspective…

[Regarding this announcement: California, Oregon & Washington Announce Western States Pact]

Very basically, federalism is the idea that states have the right to govern themselves but that certain areas of governance are better left to the federal government, such as threats to the nation as a whole such as, oh, say, a pandemic.

Continue reading As Trump abdicates leadership role, California, Oregon, and Washington band together

Fauci is doing more harm than good as long as Trump only uses him for cover

Attorney Scott Pilutik wrestles with the news of the day, from a lawyerly perspective…

[Regarding this story: Trump retweets call to fire Anthony Fauci after the coronavirus expert says earlier measures ‘could have saved lives’]

A lot of people are crossing their fingers, hoping that Trump doesn’t fire Anthony Fauci, which now seems like a real possibility after Fauci had the gall to state the obvious, that had the administration responded earlier lives would’ve been saved. Common sense to most, verboten in the bunker.

Continue reading Fauci is doing more harm than good as long as Trump only uses him for cover

i-Betty: Boris Johnson is home, a hamster falls in love with itself, and here’s a bumblebee

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is out of hospital and appeared on video in a suit and tie less than two hours after leaving St Thomas’ hospital in London, the impression given that he is keen to get back to overseeing the country’s coronavirus response as soon as possible. He said he has no doubts whatsoever that the NHS (our National Health Service) saved his life, so he was clearly very sick indeed. After spending a week in hospital, including three days in intensive care, BoJo will recuperate at his country retreat at Chequers (weekend home of all UK PMs, just like Camp David in the US, but with more chimneys), where he will be joined by his pregnant fiancée, Carrie Symonds, who had herself been suffering coronavirus symptoms.

Continue reading i-Betty: Boris Johnson is home, a hamster falls in love with itself, and here’s a bumblebee

Nurses in garbage bags, and no federal plan on testing: The nightmare continues

Attorney Scott Pilutik wrestles with the news of the day, from a lawyerly perspective…

[Regarding this story: How Did the U.S. End Up with Nurses Wearing Garbage Bags?]

This goes deep into the whys and hows of the federal failure to assume a leadership, or practically any role on getting hospital workers the PPE equipment they needed for their own protection.

Continue reading Nurses in garbage bags, and no federal plan on testing: The nightmare continues

Social isolation across the pond, with ducklings and the pajama lifestyle

Today I learned that COVID-19 stands for COronaVIrus Disease 2019. Who knew? Probably all of you.

Continue reading Social isolation across the pond, with ducklings and the pajama lifestyle

Trump is demonizing mail-in voting to get ahead of November

Attorney Scott Pilutik wrestles with the news of the day, from a lawyerly perspective…

Trump is clearly signaling that he’d like November to look like yesterday’s disgraceful election in Wisconsin, which saw huge drop-offs in turnout as more people chose not to brave a pandemic.

Continue reading Trump is demonizing mail-in voting to get ahead of November

The uncertain consequences of coronavirus deaths being undercounted for lack of testing

Attorney Scott Pilutik wrestles with the news of the day, from a lawyerly perspective…

[Regarding this story: Staggering Surge Of NYers Dying In Their Homes Suggests City Is Undercounting Coronavirus Fatalities]

I’ve seen numerous TV interviews with hospital personnel saying that they’re not even bothering to administer tests if the symptoms are obvious enough, and just treating patients on the assumption that they have coronavirus. People are also being told to not show up to the hospital unless and until the symptoms are severe enough to warrant hospitalization. This approach, necessitated by exigency, is almost certainly leading to an undercount of diagnosed coronavirus cases and therefore deaths.

Continue reading The uncertain consequences of coronavirus deaths being undercounted for lack of testing

Spencer Tracy helps us out with a mystery in the Land of Nod

Australian fires. African locusts. Worldwide plague. Do we live in Biblical times or what? If the world really is ending, we thought it was time to prepare properly for Armageddon. By, you know, reading the damn thing. The Bible, that is. (Go back to the beginning here.)

Continue reading Spencer Tracy helps us out with a mystery in the Land of Nod

A conspiracy isn’t necessary to explain why Trump is pushing the magic pill

Attorney Scott Pilutik wrestles with the news of the day, from a lawyerly perspective…

I don’t think a conspiracy is necessary to explain why Trump is pushing Hydroxychloroquine so hard, though he’s certainly not above manipulating the stock market, and there should be some investigation undertaken to determine whether and at what times he owned Novartis stock.

Continue reading A conspiracy isn’t necessary to explain why Trump is pushing the magic pill