International news

What do we make of Harry and Meghan?

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By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Much of the world is all agog at what it heard from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex this past weekend.

Harry and Meghan dropped plenty of live grenades on the UK’s royal family. I’ll be honest: We aren’t talking much about what they said in our house. Neither my wife and I are “royal watchers,” although I must admit to a certain fascination with what some members of Her Majesty’s family have said and done.

Of all the live ordnance dropped on the royals, the most disturbing — and arguably the most jaw-dropping — were the conversations that allegedly occurred with some members of the family about baby Archie. Some of the royals reportedly expressed some, um, concern that the little guy would be too dark to suit the royal family.

You see, Meghan is a biracial young woman — her mother is African-American and her father is white. Harry and Meghan won’t disclose who among the family spoke to that issue, although Harry has said it wasn’t grandma, the Queen, or grandpa, Prince Philip,

Still, that leaves a wide range of folks who have revealed a terrible secret about the royal family, which is that one or more of them are hideous racists.

As you can expect, that didn’t go over well with either Harry, or especially with Meghan.

The fascination with the British royal family will bubble and boil for a long time. It’s the nature of humankind’s affinity for royalty. I prefer to consider the royals, based on what Harry and Meghan told Oprah Winfrey in that astonishing interview, to be just like too damn many of the rest of us.

I am now going to resume the rest of my own life.

medical news

CDC offers ‘good news’

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By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

This is “good news” coming from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention?

I’ll be candid: The news makes me a bit nervous.

The CDC says it’s OK for those of us who are “fully vaccinated” to meet with others who also are fully vaccinated against the COVID virus without any restrictions. You know what I mean: no masks, no imperative to practice social distancing, those kinds of things.

Maybe I should just accept CDC director Dr. Rachelle Walensky’s word for it, that it’s safe to hug on others who’ve been totally vaccinated. Then again, I remain worried about just how do we know with any certainty that others have received all the shots they need to declare themselves inoculated against the killer virus.

The media are heralding this news as further evidence that we are turning the corner against the pandemic. I hope we are and, yes, I believe we are in the midst of turning that corner.

I just can’t shake the heebie-jeebies I feel when I hear this kind of reporting out of the CDC.

For now I believe I am going to continue to keep my distance from a good bit of American society.

State news, Uncategorized

Welcome back, DST

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The grumbling has begun.

About what? Oh, the annual switch from Standard Time to Daylight Saving Time. We’re going to make the change on Sunday, “springing forward” to DST just as we do every year. We “fall back” to Standard Time in the autumn of the year.

If only the complaining would stop.

I might be the only American around who has no particular problem with this time-change deal. It doesn’t bother me.

Folks gripe about it every year, right? They bitch about losing that hour of sleep at night. Then they moan that their bodies cannot adjust to the time change. Please, man.

If the Texas Legislature can get through its more important matters, such as finding solutions to our state’s power grid problem, perhaps it will try once again to decide how to repair this time-change thing … as if it needs repair.

The 2019 Legislature came within a whisker of putting a time-change issue on the ballot. It ran out of time. The thought was to let Texas voters decide (a) whether to go to Standard Time all year long, (b) go to Daylight Saving Time all year or (c) keep it as it is.

My choice, if I had been given the chance to vote, would be to switch to a year-long DST regimen. Why? I like the extended daylight in the evening. I cannot explain precisely why that is the case. It just is … you know?

Absent that choice, I generally do not complain out loud about the time change. I won’t do it this spring. I don’t plan on doing so when we switch back again in the fall to Standard Time.

local news

‘Diverse opinions’? Huh?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Van Taylor strikes me as an earnest young man who seeks to answer questions from his constituents, which he has done with a question from me to the second-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Plano Republican, who is my congressman, provided a written response to a question I posed to one of his staffers, which was: Why did Rep. Taylor vote against sanctioning QAnon supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene? You’ve heard of Rep. Greene, yes? She is a fire-breathing fruitcake who has adhered to insane notions that notorious school massacres were “staged,” that they didn’t occur.

I wondered why Taylor voted against removing the Georgia Republican from key committee assignments, such as her seat on the House Education Committee.

He stood behind his decision, declaring that we must not succumb to the “tyranny” of those who oppose individuals who offer opinions that differ from their own. He said Congress shouldn’t “excommunicate members for diverse opinions.”

Whoa! That takes my breath away.

Arguing over whether human beings are responsible for climate change provides an avenue for “diverse opinions.” The same can be said over whether we should balance our federal budget or whether the Second Amendment means we shouldn’t try to create laws that make it more difficult for criminals to acquire firearms.

However, what Marjorie Taylor Greene has said over the years has nothing to do with policy. She and other QAnon adherents foment fear, lies and bigotry with their hate-filled rhetoric.

I do not want any part of that to occur in my House of Representatives. As Rep. Taylor notes in his letter to me, “The United States Marine Corps taught me the importance of servant leadership, and as your Representative in Congress, I work for you.”

Yes, he does. I wanted my congressman to kick that conspiracy kook off those committees.

local news, State news

Legislature’s storm response agenda takes shape

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The 181 men and women who serve in the Texas Legislature are talking at least about how they intend to repair the state’s electrical infrastructure.

One hundred fifty of them serve in the House of Representatives; 31 serve in the Senate. I wish them all the best, not because I care about their political standing. I want them to take measures that keep our lights on and the heat flowing the next time our temperatures plunge to zero or below.

House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, has unveiled the House’s legislative agenda that deals with the infrastructure. It’s not long on specifics just yet, given that many of the measures haven’t been filed as legislative proposals.

One of them, House Bill 10, seeks to overhaul the structure of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, like requiring that all of ERCOT’s board members live in the state. You’ll recall what happened to us a month ago, with the state freezing and ERCOT decision makers living far away.

House Bill 11, according to the Texas Tribune, is a bit more complicated. The Tribune reports: Some other ideas could prove challenging. House Bill 11, for instance, would order the PUC to require power generators to implement measures to avoid service outages during extreme weather events, including winter storms and heat waves. But retroactively equipping power plants and the state’s energy system to withstand cold temperatures is likely to be difficult and costly, energy experts have said. Building energy infrastructure that from the start is designed to perform in winter conditions is easier and cheaper, they have said.

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan lays out seven bills after power outage | The Texas Tribune

Ah, yes. Winterization could be “difficult and costly.” Do ya think?

I want the Legislature to do what it must do to avoid the near calamity that could have befallen our energy grid. ERCOT said it was just minutes away from the grid imploding on itself during the coldest portion of the winter storm.

Many communities throughout the state were left to deal with the power outages and the failure of water systems. It hasn’t been pretty. Princeton, where my wife and I live, managed to get through the mess and mayhem in fairly short order. But … we did not appreciate living in a frigid house even for the short period of time our city was dark.

The Legislature needs to spend no time considering, for instance, foolishness such as requiring the playing the “Star Spangled Banner” at public events. Not while we have valuable heating and cooling infrastructure that needs the state’s immediate attention.

national news

But … why, RNC?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The Republican National Committee is striking back at Donald Trump, who has demanded that Republican politicians cease using his name to promote their candidacies.

The Hill newspaper has reported on the RNC’s response: The letter from RNC chief counsel Justin Riemer says the GOP “has every right to refer to public figures as it engages in core, First Amendment-protected political speech, and it will continue to do so in pursuit of these common goals.”

RNC fires back at Trump, says it ‘has every right’ to use his name in fundraising appeals | TheHill

Hmm. I guess my question simply is this: Why would the RNC want to affiliate itself with a twice-impeached and thoroughly disgraced former president?

Just wondering.

Uncategorized

Wanting a GOP revival … really!

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

It doesn’t make a damn bit of difference to me whether you choose to believe what I am about to say, but here goes anyway …

I want the Republican Party to pull its head out of its a** and rejoin the mainstream American political movement that pits its ideas squarely against the ideas offered by the Democratic Party.

What we used to know as the Grand Old Party has been desecrated, perverted and prostituted by the cult developed by the immediate past president of the United States, Donald John Trump.

I don’t know what ever became of the once-great political movement, but I am not yet willing to write it off, consign it to history’s trash heap.

I consider myself a good government progressive. I am not a flaming left-wing ideologue. I like the notion of compromise. Good governance requires a bit of give and take and for both sides to seek common ground.

The recent partisan vote in the Senate and  the expected partisan vote in the House of Representatives on the COVID relief package pushed by President Biden illustrates and symbolizes what has gone wrong with our political process. The Trumpster Wing of the GOP has grabbed that party by its genitals and is making it scream loudly and incoherently. 

Donald Trump campaigned for the presidency as a populist. He said he wanted to stand with the little guy, only to persuade the GOP-dominated Congress to give trillions of dollars away to rich Republicans in the form of tax cuts.

Then the GOP caucus opposed the COVID relief bill because, it says, it is “too expensive.” Huh? What about  that tax cut, ladies and gentlemen? The price tag on the the tax cut exceeded the $1.9 trillion contained in the COVID relief bill. That didn’t bother them at all. Good government? That ain’t it!

Come back, Republican Party. I miss you!

crime news

How do you find a jury for this trial?

(Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

This might be one of the world’s greatest puzzles … trying to find 12 competent Americans who can pass judgment on a former police officer accused of murdering a man in one of the nation’s most chronicled and publicized events — ever!

A Minneapolis trial court has commenced the process of finding jurors who will decide the fate of Derek Chauvin, accused of murdering George Floyd, the African-American man who suffocated after Chauvin placed his knee on the back of Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes, 46 seconds. The judge in this case has delayed jury selection for the time being.

There is no “allegedly” to be used here. The whole world has seen it. Chauvin snuffed the life out of Floyd as Floyd was pleading for his life. He said he couldn’t breathe. He begged Chauvin to let him get up. Chauvin didn’t budge.

How do lawyers determine who hasn’t seen that video, or who hasn’t drawn any conclusions based on what they saw? If they can find 12 men and women who live in Hennepin County, Minn., who know next to nothing about this case, then how competent are those individuals to pass judgment in this most notorious matter?

Hey, I’m sitting here far away, in the peanut gallery. I don’t have a direct stake in who they select.

And for that I am grateful. This is a tough call to make. I wish them  well. As for Derek Chauvin, I wish something quite different for him … which is why I never could serve on that jury.

Donald Trump, Joe Biden

New POTUS = new style

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By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Donald Trump’s single term as president of the United States seemed as we were living through it like the longest four years of our lives.

Even now, looking back, I cannot get over the prolonged misery of enduring his constant Twitter tirades, his nonsensical encounters with reporters, his endless string of epithets and innuendo.

He’s been away from the White House for 40-something days. It still seems like an eternity, yes?

Which brings me to my point, which is that President Biden’s style remains a refreshing change from the idiocy that Donald Trump brought to the presidency.

Biden lays low. He lets the experts do the talking, such as those with whom he surrounds himself to discuss COVID-related matters. He doesn’t contradict them or, as in one infamous instance, call an expert epidemiologist such as Dr. Anthony Fauci an “idiot” because he said something Donald Trump didn’t want to hear.

It remains a marvel to my eyes and ears to have placed the presidency in the hands of someone who knows the rules of the game and does not seek to shake things and people simply because he can.

We haven’t returned to completely normal behavior. We’re still fighting that pandemic. One aspect of our lives has been restored to what we used to envision, which is that our president is able to behave himself in a manner befitting the high office he occupies.

Uncategorized

Old hotel site coming back to life?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

One of my sons occasionally serves as my eyes and ears in Amarillo, Texas, where my wife and I lived for 23 years before we moved to the Metroplex.

He posted something today that piques my interest greatly: Well, I passed by the old Ambassador Hotel site today and noticed a banner for some construction and remodeling company on the fence. Could it be that someone is finally going to resurrect that place? About time!

Texas Panhandle residents might be interested in this little bit of news. You see, the Ambassador Hotel once was the place to see and be seen. It was that place when my wife and I arrived in Amarillo back in early 1995. It was located on Interstate 40 and served as a way station for motorists traveling through the city, not to mention for artists who performed in Amarillo or just those artists who were passing through. It served as a meeting place for conventions.

It closed its doors a few years ago after going through some changes in names and ownership. It has been laying fallow ever since.

Now, according to my watchdog son, someone has posted some signage on the property, preparing to resurrect the structure.

This is a good thing for the city. Yes, there has been an enormous hotel construction boom along the I-40 corridor for many years. None of the hotels, as near as I have been able to see, has provided the kind of “full service” that was available at The Ambassador.

With all the commercial and entertainment activity that has sprung up downtown, it appears our former city of residence is getting new life pumped into an old structure that once was the place to go.

Who knows? It might retrieve some of its old glory.

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