Posts tagged with "covid 19"

Northern Yellow Bat Joins Wildlife Venturing Out In DC During Covid-19

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BY JEANETTE LENOIR

Don’t worry, it’s not a bat out of hell. It’s just a bat on the hill. Wild animals are coming out of the woods and into our cities and towns as we hunker down for the dreadful Coronavirus to pass us by. Wildlife is making a comeback, no doubt thinking all the pesky critters who call themselves humans have left their beautiful planet. Sike! We’re still here suckers and hopefully staying for a long, long time. All kidding aside, the planet belongs to all of us, including those who don’t take the Metro to work.

As you carefully make your way outside, adhering to Coronavirus safety guidelines, take the time to look around you because you may just run into an unfamiliar visitor who normally inhabits places where they don’t have run-ins with people. Folks in the DMV area have been reporting numerous sightings of all sorts of animals. Foxes, coyotes, otters, beavers, and even bobcats and eagles have been spotted throughout the C & O Canal National Historic Park and other areas.

Making my usual trek around the National Mall, I ran into a strange looking critter napping in broad daylight on Capitol Hill. It was the most beautiful bat I’ve ever seen. As I turned into an irritating paparazzi, the little fellow barely took notice of me or my camera. So, I snapped away from different angles doing my best not to wake it up. I did a little research on bat species in the Washington, DC area and learned that my little sleepy buddy, whom I named Little North Yellow, is a Northern Yellow Bat. Although I’m not a Chiropterologist, it matched the description of this particular bat species.

Additional information on Wikipedia states they are, “primarily found along the coastal regions of the southeastern United States and eastern Texas, Cuba, coastal Mexico, and Central American countries of Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. This is the most abundant bat species in some regions of Florida. This species has a few occurrence records from Virginia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.”

Is it the first sighting of this particular bat species in DC? Who knows? Either way, I’m pretty sure he’s not to blame for spreading Coronavirus, despite the nasty rumors. Besides, he’s really cute and a welcome site for lonely eyes stuck in solitude during quarantine.

The Silver Lining Of Covid-19 Is Going Back To Basics

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BY JEANETTE LENOIR

 

The world is in mourning and lockdown. There isn’t a decent human soul not feeling the pain and burden of the Coronavirus pandemic. And, you’re absolutely right. Donald Trump and his minions didn’t make the human decency list. They were too busy injecting bleach into their veins and feverishly working on anti-immigration policies with Steven “Gargamel” Miller to be considered. Unfortunately, this pandemic only represents an opportunity for this administration to force inhumane and un-American values down our throats and feeding into our unraveling as one nation beholden to certain unalienable rights. And it always works when people are living in fear and with a sense of uncertainty.

This collective hurt is monumental and crippling. One can only find a small piece of solace in the shared blow of losing loved ones, jobs and life’s basic rhythm. Most of us would give up all material possessions to reverse this mess we’re stewing in. But, there are silver linings in the dark skies if you look for them. Here are some examples: animals are venturing back into deserted towns, the environment is losing some of its human stain built up from thousands of years of our carbon footprints. Mountains are peaking through clouds to see the cause of the fresh air surrounding them. Recently jellyfish and pink dolphins were seen frolicking in clear boat canals in Venice. Grass is growing between Rome’s historic cobblestone roads again due to the decrease in human activity. Goats are showing off all over Europe, as they take advantage of their new strange world without people unfolding before their eyes. Scientists keeping watchful eyes on our ozone layer are reporting good news for Mother Earth. Pollution is down across the world. Families are rediscovering the value of their tribes and reconnecting in ways unheard of. Many are taking up hobbies and venturing into areas of their lives they only dreamed of exploring after retiring the human rat race. Streets all across the world are empty and people, despite the pandemic that stopped us in our ruthless track on Earth, are experiencing life in ways never imagined.

Although there’s nothing to celebrate about Covid-19, it’s important to focus on the light in the middle of this storm to get us all through it. We’re going back to the basics. And there’s never been more value in the basics now that it’s the only option for most of us. Cheap wine tastes better, cooking skills are improving, and even the way we’re taking in the arts is changing. Musicians and other artists from all walks of life are taking their skills to the internet to continue sharing their gifts with the world. We’re finding our way through this pandemic by embracing each other and the basics as never before. And that’s a beautiful silver lining in the midst of the dark cloud that is Coronavirus.

This pandemic is a test of our determination to improve our human activities, reverse our destructive behaviors and ultimately save the world and her inhabitants. And this load can’t be carried by the poor, middle class, the underserved and powerless alone. The powerful and rich elites among us must find their way back to a sense of humanity, and the basics too, by curbing their greed and instinct to take advantage of a bad situation. There is no planet B and so it behooves us all to take this moment, as tragic and painful as it is, to be better human beings. Not just at home, but everywhere we roam.

 

How COVID-19 Is Unfolding The Mighty Eagle’s Paper Tiger Experiment

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BY JEANETTE LENOIR

Welcome to the new world brought to you by an invisible virus responsible for bringing countries to their knees, forcing people indoors or six feet apart in public to avoid being put six feet underground. We are at war with Coronavirus and the combatants are the common man against their governments and the wealthy corporations politicians are indebted to protect, first. History repeatedly proves gluttony for power and money comes with the license to govern. And it’s been long forewarned our planet has been churning to be in this exact position; a toxically divided space of rich and poor, weak and strong, environmentalists and climate science deniers, the sick and healthy, able and disabled bodies all in their respective corners holding onto the last threat of our common bond; humanity. We just lost our grip on sense and sensibility for fear of taking certain positions. As James Baldwin would put it, we are in the middle of a terrifying senility. To be black in America may be a terrible thing but worse is what America has done to itself as we stew in this disastrous Coronavirus vacuum due to lack of leadership and a firm commitment to human and civil rights.

The American illusion is comparative to a paper tiger. In theory, what this country imagines itself to be is certainly mighty, but tested, our vulnerabilities reveal otherwise. Public health crisis’s like Covid-19, SARS, Ebola and even the 1918 flu pandemic have consistently proven our dislocation to reality and full participation in democracy. As people drop dead without a cure or access to basic equipment and safety items like masks and gloves, Mitch McConnell and the GOP are fully engaged in lobbying on behalf of wealthy corporations and American elites to ensure they get first dibs at the Coronavirus Relief Act or The Cares Act. Unfortunately for those largely impacted by this pandemic, these greedy politicians’ only “Cares” are that the rich, once again, get to feed first from the government trough.

A recent article in The Atlantic, citing the Global Health Security Index—the issuing body of pandemic preparedness report cards for every country—found America holding the world’s highest score of 83.5 percent. So, how is the world’s valedictorian failing so miserably when millions of lives are at stake? Our country is deteriorating under bad management, racism and apathy. When basic human needs during a world crisis aren’t being met, it’s time to face the truth … American agony is American life.

Let’s do some unfolding. Schools are closed. Workers are laid off in mass numbers. Nurses are wearing trash bags to save lives. America doesn’t have enough gloves and face masks, or apparently the green light to mass produce them. We don’t have enough ventilators to help people breathe when they reach the peak of this respiratory disease. The bad blood between the President and journalists serves no good purpose, as their interactions continues to propagate global discontent. Trump is even accusing hospitals and governors of hoarding crucial supplies like masks and ventilators in an effort to smear him and his handling of the health crisis on our hands, surfaces and in droplets in the air. Don’t touch your face!

Honesty, decency, brains and basic trust in government left the White House with Obama, leaving us with a President only capable of passing out PTSD like the paper towels he enjoys throwing into crowds. There’s also the ever present media frenzy to capitalize on the business of tragedy, fueling hysteria and confusion among people they’re “informing.” Healthcare workers are dying from exposure and forced to work long hours to bridge the gap of America’s overburdened, underpaid and exhausted workforce. America needs more than a political revolution to reign in this chaos and breakdown in government. We need a moral and economic revolution to right their wrongs, because we have to exist more than to fill the interests of the rich. James Baldwin said, “Freedom is a dangerous thing but anything else is disastrous.” The sentiment touches the heart of this moment in our history. If our current response to the Coronavirus epidemic isn’t clear evidence we’re confronting it shaped like a paper tiger, the mighty Eagle will continue this trajectory of weakness and never find its way out of our idealistic labyrinth.