Esparanza: A Daily Outsider Public Service Initiative

 As we begin a new week, we present some #RandomThoughts on the State of Emergency Preparedness as we look forward to our continued journey of service:  Now Available: Informational Webinars & FAQs for the FY 2022 Coping with Drought Competitions  For Fiscal Year (FY) 2022, NIDIS is hosting two separate  Coping with Drought competitions : Ecological Drought and Building Tribal Drought Resilience. Both competitions are currently open and accepting letters of intent. FY 2022 Coping With Drought: Ecological Drought Letter of Intent Deadline: August 9, 2021  (5:00 p.m. Eastern Time) Full Proposal Deadline: October 18, 2021 (5:00 p.m. Eastern Time) This competition will focus on research to improve our understanding, early warning, and management of drought risk in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems to inform more deliberate and expanded decision-making that supports sustainable, healthy, and resilient ecosystems. Pending the availability of funds in FY 2022, NIDIS a...

 As a new week starts in our World, our team chose an image that reflects the profound state of Affairs in Our World as the Glaciers have changed over the past 100 years:   We also present a true sense of the realities as our World deals with this change courtesy the team at the Visual Capitalist--our team will be assessing it consistently:  

  New Collection Documents Challenges Healthcare Workers Faced as Pandemic Evolved The Library of Congress has acquired audio diaries featuring more than 200 frontline healthcare workers in the fight against COVID-19, a collection that provides first-hand testimonies from hospitals and communities across the country as the public health crisis unfolded. The audio library was donated by The Nocturnists, a San Francisco-based independent medical storytelling community and podcast. Click here for more information . PASSAGE OF THE WEEK: "The people you respect and admire? The people who seem to be so self-aware, so in touch with themselves? The chances that they keep a  journaling practice  is nearly a guarantee. Not only because the list of known journalers throughout history is comically long—Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Virginia Woolf, Joan Didion, John Steinbeck, Sylvia Plath, Anaïs Nin, Martina Navratilova, and Ben Franklin—just to name a few, but because it...

  FEMA COVID-19 Update   Key Messages The Biden-Harris Administration has launched a national public education campaign,  We Can Do This , to help Americans make informed decisions about COVID-19 vaccines to protect themselves and their communities. This campaign will run from June 4 to July 4 and involves a whole-of-government response. All 10 FEMA regions and headquarters will work with state, local, tribal, territorial and the District of Columbia emergency managers and stakeholders to support this campaign. Working with state governments, FEMA will continue to provide federal support to community vaccination centers, including supplemental vaccine allocation to 11 pilot sites. There are 11 active or temporarily closed federal community vaccination center pilot sites and 88 mobile pop-up sites receiving supplemental vaccine allocations and other federal support. Additionally, there are three federal community vaccination center pilot sites that are receiving feder...

We are celebrating the launch of "Vibes" throughout our platforms.  Please enjoy this selection.

  A little history about Memorial Day.      Memorial Day was first observed in May 1868. First called Decoration Day Major Gen John A. Logan declared that this day should be observed on May 30 th   as a time for the nation to “decorate” the graves of those that gave their lives in the Civil War.  The first observance was held that same year at the Arlington National Cemetery.    Memorial Day is the day for the national remembrance of all those who died serving the United State of America. Let us remember all those who gave up their comforts of home to protect our country and who sacrificed their lives for our freedom. Thank you for your service.         https://www.va.gov/opa/speceven/memday/history.asp   

We present this courtesy to the team at Johns Hopkins as we wish all in the United States a safe Memorial Day weekend as we honor all who served and all who paid the ultimate price. Center for Health Security New from the Center  School Ventilation: A Vital Tool to Reduce COVID-19 Spread Many kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) schools in the United States do not have good ventilation. This is a longstanding problem with demonstrably negative effects on student learning. We can and should act to fix this to ensure good indoor air quality for all students, educators, and school staff. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it is even more important that ventilation problems in K-12 schools be addressed now. Along with other mitigation measures, improvements in ventilation in K-12 schools can decrease the risk of SARS-CoV-2 spread. COVID-19 Clinical Practice   Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children is Driven by Zonulin-dependent Loss of Gut Mucosal Barrier  ( JCI ) Weeks a...