Could it be that COVID-19 is Mother Nature’s way of fighting back for all the destruction, disrespect, damage and death her human children have dealt her and her other children over the last few hundred years?
Now go be a good human and go do something good for the thing that gave and gives you life – your mother.
Plant a tree. Grow a garden. Help an animal in need. Stop eating factory farmed meat. Grow your own food and energy. Go solar. Drive electric. Ride a bike. Walk. Hike. Camp. Get outside. Leave no trace. Tread lightly. Preserve land for nature and wildlife. Create more wilderness. Water is life – protect and cherish it. Don’t be so selfish. Do not be racist. Have fewer offspring. Downsize your house. Do not litter and pick up the litter of others. Reduce, reuse, recycle, repurpose, rebuild, replant, rethink, refuse, resist. Listen to the experts and follow their recommendations. Science the shit out of it – whatever it is. Lead by example. Teach your kids about nature and our connection to it. Help others. Be a good human. Love your mothers. Do good things. Be the change. Imagine.
Stay Curious.
Unless someone like you cares an awful lot, nothing will ever change.
My recommendations during COVID-19 for what they are worth. Feel free to take them or leave them.
Do not think you are safe because you are young or fit. The virus does not care about you, your age, or your plans.
The virus is new. Novel. You do not have a natural or special immunity that will protect you – and there are questions on how much of and how long you will have immunity after infection. That topic still being studied as I write these words.
Homemade or purchased untested/unapproved concoctions, potions, poltaces, salves, ointments, crystals, flowery/fruity smells, and other “medicines” and will not fight or stop infection – but if they help you feel better and cope with the situation go for it – but also play by the rules as set by the infectious disease experts.
Your lifestyle, money, magic, religion, prayers, politics, status, belief it is all a conspiracy theory – whatever – will not protect you either.
This virus will happily shoot your plans in the foot if you slack off and give it the chance.
Choose wisely. Do the right thing.
Protect yourself and your loved ones and everyone you come in contact with.
Listen to the health and science experts.
Follow their advice.
Stay home.
Social distance.
Do not shake hands.
Wash your hands – a lot.
Don’t touch your face.
Cough into your elbow/mask.
Wash your hands again.
Don’t touch strangers or other people outside of your core family group or their “stuff.”
When you have to go out, don’t touch things outside your home such as grocery store items – until you are absolutely sure it is the item you want to buy – then, buy it, bag it, and once you get it home – sanitize it before taking it into your home.
Sanitize your mail and packages before bringing them into your home (microwaving mail/packages will not help – but it may damage your mail or microwave.)
Sanitize the soles of your shoes before entering your home.
Sanitize your car where your groceries and whtever else your hands touched.
Stock up, but do not hord supplies.
Wear a homemade mask in public, avoid crowds and people showing signs of sickness, if you start showing signs of sickness – self isolate and call your doctor.
Are my cautionary science-supported preparations germophobic overkill?
Possibly.
But it is better to be overly safe, healthy, and prepared, than to be another statistic.
If and when the authorities open things back up it will be a good idea to keep taking all the precautions until the experts say we are in the clear – and then keep social distancing for a few more weeks just to be sure it doesn’t come back and we have to go through all this again.
Then, and only then will we be able to start to slowly go back to “normal” – although, our “normal” will probably never be the way it was before COVID-19.
Finally, when a vaccine is developed, tested and available – just get it…or you could take your chances and let Darwin decide – if you understand my meaning.
Protect yourself and others by listening to the experts, doing the right thing, and choosing wisely.
To do anything less, for whatever selfish reasons you can come up with, would be putting yourself and others at risk and will only prolong the suffering and loss.
No, dear reader, I have not been compromised by “the man” or by some outside influence/power wanting to control everything and everyone for some nefarious purpose.
In fact, from my point of view it is just the opposite – I feel more free than many of you reading these words and possibly choosing to accuse me of being corrupted by the system. Why, because I choose to not listen to all the crazy conspiracy theories, the bloated snake oil salesmen, con artists, hucksters, hot air spewing televangelists, and charlatans on the lunatic fringe out to take you for a ride with their only goal being to take your money.
I choose to accept the evidence, findings, and advice of science and I let that evidence be my decision making guide for my life’s choices. At least with science my decisions are based on mountains of evidence, evidence and facts that support themselves and are the basis of my decisions. Decisions based on facts that are supported by evidence – not by the heated claims of those out only to better only themselves or their special or selfish interests.
To base my decisions on the facts supported by the evidence and peer review process and to not be a part of the controlling cults of myth, money, and politics was one of the most freeing decisions I have ever made.
Maybe after all this is over people will think before they act.
Maybe they will think about how their daily actions impact their fellow humans, wildlife, and the life-giving environment that supports us all.
Maybe they will put the planet, people, and nature, before profit.
Maybe they will think before they toss litter on the ground, in the water, or in the air.
Maybe they will pick up the litter of others.
Maybe they will choose cleaner options for their energy and transportation systems.
Maybe they will be nicer to others.
Maybe they will accept the differences of others and welcome infinite diversity in infinite combinations.
Maybe they will drop the self-imposed imaginary division found only on maps and within their minds and start working together with each other.
Maybe they will develop better cleanliness habits.
Maybe they will stop shaking the hands of strangers.
Maybe they will wear masks in public when they have a cough/cold/sickness – better yet maybe they will stay home when they are sick.
Maybe they will share resources rather than selfishly hoarding them.
Maybe they will plant vegetable gardens and fruit orchards.
Maybe they will help each other just because it is the right thing to do.
Maybe they will stop arguing and fighting over petty little irritations, problems, and differences… irritations, problems, and differences that do not seem so bad right now.
Maybe they will stop blaming others for all the problems in the world and accept responsibility because we are all in this together.
Maybe they will seek and find the beauty and wonder of nature and of humanity all around us.
Maybe they will sing, dance, play music, live, laugh, and love.
Maybe they will spend more quality time with those they love and maybe they will love and cherish that time as time well spent.
Maybe, after drinking cleaner water, breathing cleaner air, seeing the blue sky, distant mountains, and the Milky Way for the first time – maybe they will wise up, wake up, and understand that our short term careless actions have long term consequences that harm us all.
Maybe after seeing their friends and loved ones suffering and passing away because they ignored the warnings of the health and science experts, maybe then they will listen to and trust those experts, follow their recommendations, and wash hands, wear PPE’s, and stay home when the experts tell them to do so.
Maybe.
Maybe not.
Only time will tell.
No matter what happens to the human species – life, the universe, and everything will go on.
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not. ” – The Lorax
“You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us. And the world will live as one.” -John Lennon
NASA sends multiple space probes, landers, and rovers to the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and many of their moons and then, sends back photos and videos and lots of science of these amazing places that astounds the inhabitants of our world greatly increasing our knowledge of our place in our home solar system, our galaxy, and in the cosmos.
After taking almost a decade to arrive at comet 67PCG the people of planet earth watched in awe as the tiny spacecraft Rosetta rendezvoused with the comet and then, released its even more diminutive lander Philaewhich later briefly touched down and later came to rest – albeit at an unusual angle – on this ancient wandering body in space. Amazing data on the origins of the solar system was gathered, people of earth were astonished at the preciseness of the calculations – the coding, the math, and the science – required to make all this awesome discovery happen for our species.
NASA (and many other space agencies) have put several massive space telescopes into orbit that reveal the existence of countless galaxies, solar systems, and over four thousand exoplanets – some similar to our homeworld – orbiting other suns, and many other amazing hidden secrets of the cosmos.
…and then teams up with 15 other nations to build a massive space station – the International Space Station (ISS) – that is now orbiting 250 miles above our planet and moving at a speed of 17,500 mph.
This ISS has been continuously occupied by different astronauts from many different countries for over 20 years.
ISS Pizza Party. Credit NASA. Source:
It is an outpost in space that allows us puny fragile humans to live and work in a weightless environment in order to further our knowledge of our species and its place in the universe – and to prepare for deep space missions back to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
BTW: This is a space station that you can use a smartphone locator app (ISSonLive, ISSLiveNow, ISSDetector and more) to find in the night sky and then see with your own eyes from your own backyard. People are enlightened and astounded to the reality of it all.
NASA tells the world – several years early – a total eclipse of our star – the sun – will be happening on a certain day, at a certain time down to the second on a future date – so you better be there in a very narrow zone of totality across the continent or you will miss this once-in-a-lifetime “Great American Eclipse” event. Everyone takes NASA’s word as gospel and a mass migration of humans moves into position along the described zone of totality and all witnesses this totally amazing total solar eclipse.
Crowds gathered nationwide to watch the spectacle. Everyone was ready and in place for the once in a lifetime event.The solar eclipse during totality, seen from outside Crowheart, Wyoming; the photograph uses exposure bracketing to show both the Sun’s corona and the surface features of the new moon itself, illuminated by earthshine. A few solar prominences are visible around the lunar limb. Credit: Michael S Adler
Just as NASA scientists had stated several years before the event – the moon passed between the sun and the earth and at the exact times and locations as NASA had previously predicted – the Great American Eclipse happened.
Mike drop.
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NASA and many, many other scientists (all the way back to Clare Patterson – who not only discovered the age of our planet but may very well have saved all of us from lead poisoning) tells us that our earth is very, very, very old – on the order of 4.55 billion years to be as exact as scientifically possible.
Earth gif. Source – the “interwebs.”
This astonishing fact is supported by tons of geologic evidence in the crustal rocks of the planet and our Moon as well as evidence from ancient asteroids and comets as well as in the chemical/geological makeup of all planetary bodies in our solar system.
Yet today, even with all the before mentioned NASA awesomeness, and all the piles of evidence…
…many humans continue to choose to claim our planet is less than 10,000 years old…see: Young Earth Creationism.
This topic would not be complete without debunking the bizarre myth that we humans lived alongside dinosaurs. Put simply – no, we did not. If we had, we probably would not be here because they were DINOSAURS!
Stated a bit more clearly and with awesome animations.
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NASA uses its best science and technology to confirm our home planet is in fact round…and many, many, astronauts and spacecraft with cameras go into space and report that yes, our planet is in fact round.
Astronaut Mike Massimino over Earth. Credit NASA and Mike Massimino.
…and some people are like – NOPE. I just don’t believe it because from my point of view on the surface of the planet it just looks flat.
Riiiiiiight.
Some insight into the roundness of our planet.
Furthermore…
Imagine you are a bacterium on a beach ball – “Small sections of large curved surfaces will always look flat to little creatures that crawl upon it.” – NDT
NASA uses its best space and earth based tools (satellites, aircraft, ice cores, historic temperature readings, atmospheric monitoring stations, tree rings, lake and ocean sediments, and the peer-review process, etc.) to generate solid evidence supported by the vast majority of the planet’s scientists who study the earth’s climate systems to reveal their evidence to the world that our human activities are driving climate change by burning too many fossil fuels way too fast…
…and some people have chosen to totally ignore and deny this peer-reviewed evidence and are like –
“NOPE. I just don’t believe it.”
!!WTF humans WTF!!
If we do not want to have our home planet become another Venus…
…if we do not want our beautiful round planet to continue to be populated by a growing number of willfully ignorant, science and evidence doubting, conspiracy supporting, myth and legend preaching humans…
…if we do not want our species and many others to go the way of most of the dinosaurs…
…then, as we have done in the past in all matters of space and earth science, when it comes time to make the big decisions that impact us all and our shared environment – then we really need to start listening to NASA and the other experts who study our planet, our environment, and our climate and we need to fully trust them to guide us in our decision making process.
This is not rocket science but it is the definition of critical thinking: Disciplined thinking that is clear, rational, open-minded, informed, and supported by evidence .
We need to be more like NASA.
We need to unite behind the science.
The future hinges on the decisions that we make today.
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