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.

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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.

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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.

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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.)

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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.

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The Land of Nod: The punishments keep adding up for the first family

Continue reading The Land of Nod: The punishments keep adding up for the first family

A handy list of people who should never be listened to again in matters of life or death

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

In the early days of the virus (which really should have been the later days, had we moved in a timely fashion) there was a push from conservatives, borne from wishful thinking and a distrust of expertise (well-honed from years spent dismissing the effects of climate change), to downplay the risks of this virus.

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God digs his lamb a little burnt, spurns veggies

Continue reading God digs his lamb a little burnt, spurns veggies

How to protect your family from COVID-19, and what to do if you catch it

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

This ten-minute video is the most useful, practical advice I’ve heard from a doctor who has seen a lot of patients at an Upper East Side NYC hospital on not getting the virus and what to do if you do. I feel better about the precautions we’ve taken after watching.

Continue reading How to protect your family from COVID-19, and what to do if you catch it