Category Archives: State news

medical news, State news

Abbott stiffs the docs

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

So … Texas Gov. Greg Abbott pledged a year ago to let “science” dictate his decisions regarding the strategy he would employ to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said that, right? Yes. He did.

So, now we hear from the Texas Tribune that Gov. Abbott did not discuss a plan to lift the statewide mask mandate with three of his four chief medical advisers. The fourth one, according to the Tribune, cannot say whether the decision is safe, prudent or premature.

This reporting troubles me greatly. It suggests to me that the governor is driven by a Donald Trump-like reliance on personal hunches and not on the dispassionate medical/scientific advice he is getting from the professionals with whom he has surrounded himself.

Greg Abbott didn’t consult 3 of his 4 medical advisers on lifting mask order | The Texas Tribune

One of Abbott’s medical advisers said this, according to the Tribune: “I don’t think this is the right time,” Dr. Mark McClellan, a former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and director of the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy at Duke University, said in a statement. “Texas has been making some real progress, but it’s too soon for full reopening and to stop masking around others.”

What do you think about that? Does that sound to you that the governor is relying on science, that he is being faithful to the pledge he made when the pandemic was tightening its grip on Texas’s population? It doesn’t sound like it to me.

We have suffered more than 42,000 COVID-related deaths in Texas alone. Yes, the statewide death and hospitalization rates are declining. We all are cheering the arrival of the vaccines — from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. We are heartened to hear President Biden pledge that all adult Americans who want to be vaccinated will have the drugs available to them by May.

Now, though, we hear that our governor has stiffed the medical team he brought on board to give him solid, science-based advice on how he should respond to the virus.

Are you troubled by this? If not, you should be.

Take this piece of advice from a laymen: Mask up, Texas.

State news

Consensus? Abbott is wrong about the masks!

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

There seems to be a consensus building across Texas about the pronouncement made by Gov. Greg Abbott on how the state should handle the coronavirus pandemic.

It is that he has made a mistake in rescinding the mask mandate order he issued this past summer to fight the virus.

Most of us seem to understand his desire to open the state’s businesses back up. The mask mandate, though, needs to remain … if I am reading the state’s collective pulse correctly. Maybe I am correct, or maybe I am all wet.

I’ll presume that I am right, or at least in presuming  that the most vocal folks out there are those who oppose lifting the mask mandate.

It well might be that those who support lifting the mask order are too embarrassed to say so publicly. If that’s the case, well, I’d be embarrassed too. You know already that my wife and I intend to keep wearing our masks when we enter restaurants, the grocery store or stop for a cappuccino at the neighborhood Allsup’s.

I reckon million of other Texans will do the same.

This presumption I am drawing would seem to put the lie to the caricature so many Americans have of those who live in Texas. That we’re a state full of swaggering know-it-alls who distrust government telling us to do anything, let alone take measures to protect ourselves and our loved ones.

From what I am hearing, seeing and sensing among those of us who call Texas home, we aren’t too crazy about Gov. Abbott’s decision to lift an order he issued to protect the folks he governs.

I am totally fine with what he ordered. In fact, I intend to keep following it.

medical news, State news

What did Abbott’s medical advisers say?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Texas media are abuzz with comment and reaction to Gov. Greg Abbott’s big announcement Tuesday that he was declaring the state open “100 percent” for business and is rescinding the mask-wearing order in light of the pandemic.

I am dubious of the governor’s action. I am not going to change a single thing in my house; my wife and I intend to do precisely what we have been doing to avoid getting infected by the COVID virus. It has worked so far.

This inquiring mind, though, wants to know something that hasn’t been reported: What did Gov. Abbott’s medical advisers tell him prior to making the announcement?

I ask the question because I have read comments from all over the state from educators, doctors and other scientists who have expressed concern that Abbott’s decision, at the very least, is premature. Too many Texans are getting sick and too many of us are still dying from the coronavirus.

I want to know what Abbott’s medical team told him. How do they justify this reopening notion from the governor? There might be a plausible rationale. If there is, then let’s hear it!

Oh, but then again there might be another notion, which is that Abbott didn’t listen to his medical team’s advice and decided it was more, um, “politically expedient” to open the state’s business community for everyone. Or, perhaps the governor sought to change the subject and yank our attention away from the clusterfu** response to the terrible winter storm that paralyzed the state and damn near caused a total collapse of our electrical grid.

Is any of that possible? Hmmm?

I’m all ears, Gov. Abbott.

local news, medical news, State news

Mask-wearers unite!

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

It’s clear that I cannot possibly know whether what I am seeing on my social media network connotes a national trend.

Still, I am heartened to see the reaction to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s announcement today that he is rescinding the mask mandate he ordered in 2020 to fight the COVID pandemic and that he is allowing businesses to open “100 percent.”

I am hearing from across the state that folks are going to continue wearing their masks, that they are going to keep their “social distance” from strangers and do not plan to frequent restaurants and bars.

Abbott sounded strangely victorious today when he made his announcement in Lubbock. Sure, he said we shouldn’t let up. Then he touted immediately the declining infection and death rates in Texas. I am not sure which part of Abbott’s announcement drew the most attention.

I am going to join my many social media contacts in declaring my own intention to keep wearing a mask; Lord knows I have enough of them. I also intend to keep my distance. I will slather sanitizer on my hands with abandon; I will wash ’em with soap and water at home with annoying frequency.

School district officials are talking, too, about resisting the governor’s call to reopen fully. They will continue to require students and teachers to mask up in classrooms; I am presuming the Allen Independent School District, where my granddaughter and her older brother attend school, will be among them.

I just am going to say a prayer that Gov. Abbott hasn’t acted too hastily in his effort to put Texas back to work.

local news, Sports news, State news

Fans at games, too?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Greg Abbott’s big announcement today wasn’t as specific as perhaps it could have been.

The Texas governor declared that Texas businesses were “100 percent open,” meaning they could serve at full capacity. He implored us all to continue to observe social distancing, wash our hands and all that kind of thing.

The governor did not make specific mention of sporting events. Will sports fans be able to sit next to each other at venues to cheer on their favorite teams? That question has surfaced, for instance, among fans of the Amarillo Sod Poodles, the Double A baseball team that is set to open its second-ever season in early May.

Therein lies a dilemma, ladies and gentlemen. What about the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers, the Major Leagues’ two franchises? Or the other minor-league franchises scattered throughout Texas?

If I were King of the World, I wouldn’t have made the declaration that Gov. Abbott made today. I would have kept the mask mandate in effect and I would have required that sports venues limit seating to a certain percentage significantly less than full. That ain’t my call. It falls to the governor, I guess, to determine whether it is safe to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with strangers in sports venues.

I suppose the final answer to whether Sod Poodles fans will be able to fill all of Hodgetown’s seats when the season opens there in mid-May falls on the team ownership, or perhaps Amarillo City Hall.

I don’t have a suggestion on how the team should go with this one. You know already what I think of Gov. Abbott’s decision to open business back up to full capacity; I think it’s a potentially disastrous mistake. The pandemic is still raging, albeit at a bit calmer pace than it was a few weeks ago.

Perhaps the governor ought to provide some further guidance on what sports fans all over the state should do, keeping in mind that Priority No. 1 must be everyone’s health and well-being.

medical news, science news, State news

Abbott invites danger

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

OK, I listened to most of Gov. Greg Abbott’s talk at the Lubbock restaurant.

The Texas governor has rescinded a statewide mask mandate and told all business owners who cater to all clientele that they are now free to open “100 percent,” despite the presence of COVID-19 virus that is still infecting Texans and other Americans.

I have decided to ignore Abbott’s recommendation. I am going instead to heed the call of President Biden who is asking us to wear masks at least for the first 100 days of his administration.

Biden is making the more prudent decision. As for the business reopening, most of ’em will have to make that trip back without me, and likely without my bride as well.

I’m staying the course in mitigating the effects of the killer virus. It could have claimed a member of my immediate family and the memory of that frightening experience is too damn fresh in my mind to ignore.

Be careful.

State news

No thanks, Gov. Abbott; I’ll keep wearing the mask

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Gov. Greg Abbott has declared that business will be 100 percent open and is ending the statewide mask mandate.

Fine. You go ahead with that call, governor. Me? I’m going to keep wearing my mask when I venture outside. I plan to keep wearing the mask probably for the entire year and — who knows? — maybe the next year, too. I also plan to minimize my appearance in local businesses while the pandemic is still raging around the world.

Abbott wants Texas businesses to resume “normal” activity. I do, too. I don’t like wearing a mask. I don’t like keeping my distance from everyone out there. I don’t like having to slater sanitizer on my hands every time I roll out a shopping cart or pump fuel into my truck. I just do all of it to stay safe from the COVID virus.

I do worry about whether Abbott’s declaration opens the door to yet another spike in coronavirus infection, hospitalization … or worse!

He went to Lubbock to make the announcement at a restaurant. I guess he wanted to show us all that it’s OK to go out and spend money to support local businesses. Hey, I am all in with that, too!

In due time. In due course. Not just yet.

My bride and I have been vaccinated. We are happy about that and we feel a good bit of relief knowing our systems contain the Pfizer medicine that we hope will fend off the virus. We are only about 10 percent of the entire U.S. population that has been granted that immunity. We need tens of millions more Americans to join us so we can meld into that “herd immunity” crowd that strengthens our chances of staying free of infection.

So, thanks for declaration, Gov. Abbott. I am going to say a prayer for all of us that we can avoid what I fear might be a consequence of yet another rush to returning to normal.

State news

Special legislative session awaits

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

I am not a huge fan of special legislative sessions in Texas.

We send our legislators to Austin for 140 days every other year to take care of legislative business. We don’t pay ’em very much money; I mean, they’re “citizen legislators” and we pay them a pittance to do our work.

The 2021 Legislature has a huge task ahead of it that it might be able to finish in time for the regular session to adjourn sine die.

Gov. Greg Abbott needs to ensure they finish the one major task: That would be finding money to pay for a major overhaul/reform/strengthening of our state’s electrical grid.

The grid came within about four minutes of collapsing a couple of weeks ago. It damn near failed the entire state, throwing us into prolonged darkness and cold. How did that happen? Well, the jury is still pondering that one, but one element seems clear: The state has not “winterized” its generating system to cope with the zero-degree temperature that blanketed much of the state.

Special legislative sessions too often are the product of lawmakers running out of time because they spend so much time dawdling at the beginning of these regular sessions. The 2021 Legislature doesn’t have time to waste. It has begun some key hearings peppering utility officials with questions about what went so damn wrong this past month.

Texas has a Rainy Day Fund that it can use to help pay for the cost of weatherizing its energy plants. There needs to be some serious priority-setting as well.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which manages the electrical grid, is under intense fire from critics who wonder about some of the bone-headed decisions that reduce energy output at critical times during the deep freeze.

We have lots of energy in this state. We also have some pretty good minds in key places that can figure out what went so terribly wrong and find solutions to fix it.

If it takes a special session to finish the job, I would hope — and I expect — Gov. Abbott will be quick to summon legislators back to get it done.

local news, national news, political news, State news

Ted Cruz: ‘sniveling coward’ of the year

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By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Ted Cruz takes the grand prize as the “sniveling coward” of this still young year.

I kind of like the term “sniveling.” It’s so, um, descriptive. You can draw a mental picture of someone cowering in a corner, sobbing while crouched in some sort of fetal position.

It’s an epithet that the Texas U.S. senator threw at a fellow Republican presidential candidate in 2016. Yep, that would be Donald John Trump, the guy who eventually won the presidency that year. You recall the moment, yes? Trump tweeted an unflattering picture of Heidi Cruz, Ted’s wife. Ted went after Trump with ferocity, calling him a “pathological liar,” a guy with “no morals,” and yes, he called him a “sniveling coward.”

Trump is all of that. So, too, is Ted Cruz … I mean the sniveling coward part.

You see, after Trump got elected Cruz began sucking up to The Donald. They became best friends. Cruz became afraid of the damage Trump might cause were he to remain committed to his earlier view of Trump’s morals, his lying and his lack of courage.

He cowered in the face of potential payback. Thus, he became a “sniveling coward.”

I suppose you could say he burnished his “sniveling coward” credentials by jetting off to Cancun while Texans shivered in the dark during that horrible winter storm. Oh, and get this: Cruz then decided this weekend at the Conservative Political Action Conference to mock Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the New York progressive member of Congress, who came to Texas and raised $5 million in storm relief … while Cruz was hightailing it to the beach in sunny, balmy Mexico.

All of these examples I have cited offer plenty of evidence to suggest that Ted Cruz is very much the “sniveling coward” he once said of an ex-president to whom he now professes blind fealty.

Cruz makes me want to puke.

environmental news, State news

Texas feels the shame

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Texas continues to take its lumps over the near-disaster we experienced a week ago.

You see, a state that has prided itself on its ruggedness, its independence and its know-how is being pounded over the failure of an electrical grid that was supposed to carry the state through the worst weather imaginable.

It sure didn’t do the job.

Indeed, now we hear that the Electric Reliability Council of Texas was about four minutes away from a total collapse.

As Ezra Klein wrote in the New York Times: Second, it could have been so much worse. Bill Magness, the president and chief executive of ERCOT, said Texas was “seconds and minutes” from complete energy system collapse — the kind where the system needs to be rebuilt, not just rebooted. “If we had allowed a catastrophic blackout to happen, we wouldn’t be talking today about hopefully getting most customers their power back,” Mr. Magness said. “We’d be talking about how many months it might be before you get your power back.”

How does Texas save its face? How does it recover from this mess, which darkened electrical output for 4 million Texans?

One thought might be to join the two other major electrical grids and give up this notion of Texas running its own grid. ERCOT already is suffering from resignations of seven board members, all of whom quit in the wake of the power failure.

It doesn’t make me feel at all good about my adopted home state.

As Klein writes: It wasn’t even the worst cold Texas experienced in living memory: in 1989 temperatures and electricity generation (as a percentage of peak demand) dropped even further than they did in 2011. Texas hadn’t just failed to prepare for the far future. It failed to prepare for the recent past.

Opinion | Texas Is a Rich State in a Rich Country, and Look What Happened – The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Let us demand some actual leadership from our, um, leaders on this matter.

Yes, we’re a rich state. However, we seem to suffer from a poverty-level absence of bright ideas on how to prevent a recurrence of what we all endured. No one likes freezing.