Delta Means Difference
The Delta variant isn’t a whole lot different, from my understanding. But the goalposts have changed from the day I wrote the above - now we have a vaccine; and even the low-end of the dosages offers some protection. USA Today reported (8/4 #s) The U.S. has had more than 35.3 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and 614,700 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: More than 200 million cases and 4.25 million deaths. More than 165.3 million Americans – 49.8% of the population – have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. Yet, More than 90% of new coronavirus infections across the U.S. are from the delta variant. Hospital beds in Florida and Louisiana are at a premium . According to Reuters, the contagion level for younger children is higher.
On Spiritualism…
Spiritualism is based on the belief that spirits exist and, basically, want to communicate with the living. Because of their insight, the spirits can provide moral/ethical issues and can be contacted through a medium who utilizes a spirit guide to provide insight. At the height of the religion between 1840-1920 (yes, this is considered a religious belief) over 8 million people followed it. It began to taper off in the 1880’s due to credibility issues by fraudulent mediums …
When I introduced Ray and Gwen in Gruff Ending, the intent was to introduce the two sides of the discussion. .. These represent (mostly) the warring sides of my own observations in Spiritualism and Mediumship where the things I’ve seen and experienced …
Valedictions
Gothic Maryland ?
So what is it about Tempy and Hester that folks like ? In the review of Blue Summer, a reviewer says they can’t wait to read more about them. I think in writing about these urban legends, I may have taken from elements of Gothic Fiction - but turned them sideways to adjust for our strong leading ladies…
Conduit…Revisited
Last week I published the short story Conduit in this blog, and as happenstance would have it, several things popped up on my radar afterwards that made me pause and say , “Yeah. Yeah. Just like that story I just wrote.
Trippin’
Stephen King’s the Stand book 1 opens with the caption Captain Trips June 16-July 4 1990. At the beginning of the COVID-19, I joked along with some of my coworkers about the similarity of COVID with Captain Trips. While we are not exactly at the Fourth, , the numbers are still going up.
Maybe not quite at the levels of the Stand yet, but they are going up. To observe anything different is ignorance, in my book. Shuffle the numbers how you like, the evidence is there.
Tom Nook…. Psycho ?
A silly proposition and observation on Tom Nook’s behaviors and how they relate to psychopathic tendencies.
Never Split Up the Party
Never Split Up the Party. This is a mantra that every person that plays a Role Playing Game (RPG) knows. Strength is in numbers, and the world (well, the Dungeon Master) is against you. The more players, the more dice to roll to determine success. It’s all in the probability (apologies to Jack Burton).
The Reports of My Death are Greatly Exaggerated.
As Samuel “Mark Twain” Clemens stated, “the reports of my death are greatly exaggerated” , or for the more contemporary , as Richard Pryor said - “I ain’t dead yet.”
Never Tell Me the Odds.
C-3PO: Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately 3,720 to 1!
Han Solo: Never tell me the odds!
Being a nerd, this line in the Empire Strikes Back has always bothered me. Probability is the number of favorable outcomes as a ratio to the negative outcomes; Possibility is the actual number of outcomes of an event where the result of the outcome does not matter. Another way we used to voice this is by saying “Is it possible ? Yes. But is it probable ? No.”
Cosmic Horror in a Microverse
The COrona VIris Disease (COVID) ,should be renamed the COsmic VIris Disease, as it is in this period of time the uncertainty, the breakage of the scope of worldwide economies, the field of political affairs stretches the fears and threatens the human psyche.
Let Loose the Hounds
Discussion on Maryland’s implementation of COVID-19 with relaxed rules.