I remember as a little kid, Walter Cronkite signing off his news with that sentiment, “And that’s the way it is.” My folks got their news from the evening editions on television, the morning newspaper, and radio. I was more interested in my friends, outdoor games, catching fireflies, and cookouts. Walter probably reported on maybe the Vietnam war, economic news, crime, and so forth. Life went on, we gathered together for dinner, and when the street lights came on, I knew I better get home to eat.

So we watched the “evening news” yet again tonight and it’s the same every single night.  Let’s explore the latest:

The Delta Variant, a spin-off of Covid, is the headline, with special emphasis on the states that seem to be “lagging behind” on vaccines. They cite Florida as an example. I check the COVID cases daily, as I have from last late spring, and they are at zero with no new deaths. The total deaths for our county is 89. There seems to be a spike in new cases about every seven days. We are a tourist area, so this is not surprising, especially around a holiday. What I don’t understand is, the states that showed the most cases initially, are still showing the greatest rise in this new variant – New York, California, etc. The push to vaccinate was heavy in the larger cities, so how did this happen?  The rise in Delta cases is also heavy in Israel – so several states and countries are having to impose indoor masks and travel restrictions once again. What’s going on?