WHAT IS A PHOTOCOPIER AND SUNDAY UPDATE

A photocopier is a machine...wait....let the following short film, taken verbatim from a civil deposition, tell you what a photocopier is. BTW this is what we envision the daily practice of civil law is all about. 




COMING MONDAY AND ALL NEXT WEEK: All you  wanted to know about judicial election qualifying. Who has opposition and who does not? 

VIRUS OUTLOOK: RETURNING TO NORMAL 

Much like the definition of a photocopier, returning to normal is a difficult phrase to define. 
FACT: Our return to work will not be a return to normal. 
FICTION: The virus curve will flatten and then the virus will disappear. 
The virus will not disappear. It will be with us forever. Like Herpes. And we are not being sill when we say that. Herpes is a virus that remains in our society as well as in the bodies of people infected. Once infected, some people have recurrences, some do not. For those that do, there are anti-viral drugs that keep it at bay and there are daily treatments that keep the virus depressed. There is no one time cure, much like there is no cure for the common cold. This shows you how difficult some virus's are to treat. 

FICTION: The virus will mutate and get worse. This is what happens in the movies. It is mostly not true. 
FACT: The virus will most likely mutate to less virulent forms. The deadly Spanish Flu mutated into the manageable H1N1 flu. This is what most viruses do. What Covid-19 does remains to be seen. 

FACT: A vaccine will cure our problems. True but UNTIL a vaccine is approved, the virus will be with us which means that more Americans will get infected over the next six months and the next year and those of us that are feeling a sigh of relief that the virus has missed us and our loved ones will still be at risk over the coming months and years. Some of us will get sick. Some will die. A vaccine that works could be years away. Re-read that last sentence. Understand it. Accept it. And plan for it. 

FICTION: A treatment will bridge the gap until a vaccine emerges. Right now there are no approved treatments for Covid-19. Hydroxychloroquine may be effective and it may not be. It is a dangerous treatment with serious side effects. Remdesivir,  a drug developed for Ebola that did not work, has been shown to help suppress the virus enough to get people who are dying on ventilators off of them. But it is an expensive and dangerous treatment that can only be administered intravenously and also has serious side effects. 

FICTION: The Corona Virus 19 kills you. 
FACT: The cytokine storm, which is the body's over-reaction to virus in which the body's vital organs begin to shut down, is what kills most Corona Virus 19 patients. 
Which means monoclonal antibody therapy which helps shut down the cytokine storm is becoming a treatment in  doctors arsenals against the virus. 

We will return to work. But it will be fraught with danger. No more handshaking. No more kissing or hugging  hello. Social distancing is here to stay. So are masks and gloves and a general awareness of how viruses are spread-though touching elevator buttons,  the door handle on the refrigerator at work, on bathroom doors, desk surfaces, cell phones, ATM buttons, etc. 

Enjoy your Sunday. No Photocopying! Only Xeroxing. 

FUN FICTION: The Spanish Flu emerged from Spain. It did not. It most likely emerged in France in 1916. But what was going on then? WWI. And neither side wanted to report a virus ravaging their armies because they believed it would cause the other side to attack them. So while all the major participants in WWI denied the existence of th Flu, Spain, which was netural, reported on the Flu and virus numbers and Spain- wrongly- became the country associated with the emergence of the flu.