Tag Archives: COVID

Twitter acts correctly in banning fear-mongering liar

Marjorie Taylor Greene can yap and yammer until she runs out of breath.

Twitter acted correctly when it banned her personal access to the social medium permanently. The company’s reason? Greene, a Republican congresswoman serving her first term from Georgia, is peddling lies and dangerous misinformation about the COVID-19 virus that is still killing Americans.

Yes, it is going to prompt a debate about whether Twitter is violating Greene’s First Amendment right to free speech. It isn’t. You see, it has long been established that the constitutional guarantee does not allow anyone to yell “fire!” in a crowded theater, which is the equivalent of what Greene has been doing by pushing out the lies regarding the COVID virus and the vaccines developed to rid us of the virus’s effects.

Remember that Greene was elected in 2020 to the U.S. House of Representatives and promptly equated mask and vaccine mandates to what Jews endured during the Holocaust. House Republican leaders had the good sense — finally! — to strip her of committee assignments.

She continues to bloviate, though. Twitter, a private company, said it has heard enough from the QAnon queen of the House.

I agree with what the social media firm has done.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Virus is here forever?

Admission time: It is beginning to look as though we’re going to have the coronavirus around for as long as most of us are alive.

That’s what I keep hearing as I listen to the news and read various publications. It makes me wonder: Will the virus continue to disrupt our lives?

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the president’s senior medical adviser, today was dishing out a bit of good news. He said that the virus will morph perhaps by the end of the year from a “pandemic” to an “endemic” disease, meaning that it will still be around but will be manageable enough for us to avoid major life disruptions.

Well … I can live with that.

The “new normal” appears now to include a lifetime with this virus lurking in the background. At least that’s what I glean from it at the time being.

As I have noted already, the idea of wearing masks is seeming to be more “normal” than not wearing one. I’ve been able to travel a good bit over the years and have noticed masks are the “uniform of the day” for most folks in places with poor quality. Residents of Asian cities such as Bangkok, Taipei, Delhi, Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh, Mumbai wear masks routinely as they go about their day. Now they have a virus to keep them masked up.

So, it might be for most of the rest of the world.

I’m OK with it, too — as long as it keeps my loved ones and me safe from the virus.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Dear Gov. Abbott: Get real, will ya?

You had me then you lost me, Gov. Greg Abbott.

Perhaps you might not remember when we had a nice professional relationship. You served on the Texas Supreme Court and then later as state attorney general. You would come see us in Amarillo when I worked at the newspaper as its editorial page editor.

I considered you to be a decent fellow. Thoughtful, not terribly partisan, reasonable.

Then you got elected governor in 2014. I was gone from the business when that happened, but I have been watching you closely ever since. Frankly, Gov. Abbott, you have disappointed me.

You keep hammering the federal government over Affordable Care Mandates, or border security issues, over COVID-19 protection measures. You just cannot stop blasting the feds over this and that.

I get that you might want to seek the presidency in 2024. You’re entitled to harbor your ambition. But what the hell? Now you want the feds to send more testing kits to Texas and more antibody material. You keep yammering that President Biden isn’t sending enough of them here. Hey, does it occur to you that Texas is one of 50 states and several territories that also require federal assistance during this pandemic?

I was hoping you might take your even-handed approach to government into the governor’s office when you got elected. Silly me. I was a fool for thinking that would happen.

What is so remarkable about your insistence on federal help now is how you have stiffed the feds — and the president — previously.  You didn’t even have the decency to show up for a photo op with Biden when he came to Texas. He’s the president of everyone and good manners would dictate that you could at least grace him with a handshake for the cameras. But you’re all over the former Liar in Chief when he visited the Texas. What a joke!

Well, enough of this note to you, Gov. Abbott. I just had to get this off my chest. I feel better now.

Happy new year … and stop trying to make political points by your constant bitching about Joe Biden.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Turning the COVID corner … again?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a new rule that shortens the quarantine time for those who have the COVID virus. It’s now down to just five days.

Well … what does that mean?

It used to be for two weeks; then it went to 10 days; now it’s just five days.

I get that the Omicron variant isn’t as deadly as previous variants. It’s just far more contagious. It is why I am masking up — again! — when I enter indoor venues populated by people I do not know. It’s also why I am washing my hands frequently — again! — with soap and water. It’s also why I am more mindful of social distancing — yes, again!

I hope the new CDC rule bodes more promising for how Omicron is going to progress.

I also want an end to the constant stream of COVID-related news.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Ready and waiting for an end … to the pandemic

Oh, brother. Let me count the reasons why I am so ready for the pandemic that has become part of our daily lives to be under control enough for it to no longer dominate every news cycle I watch.

The docs the networks trot out keep telling us that the current surge, the Omicron variant, will continue for a while longer. Then they tell us those who are stricken by it won’t be as sick as before, but that there will be more of them.

I am counting my lucky stars, my blessings and every little thing I can count for the fact that my wife and I have remained free of the virus. Same for our sons and their loved ones. One of my sisters got quite sick a year ago; her husband was asymptomatic with the virus. They’re recovering and I am thankful for that, quite obviously.

However, I am so-o-o-o-o ready for this virus to be controlled. The vaccines are working. They have those oral meds that prevent occurrences. I might stock up on the pills if I am able to find an outlet to acquire them.

It’s becoming clearer to me that we aren’t likely to exterminate the COVID virus. We’ll just need to corral it and keep a sharp eye on it.

I am OK with that. I just am ready to be free of the news barrage dealing with the COVID virus.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

What’s happening to me?

I cannot believe what is happening to me. I find myself actually defending Donald J. Trump, albeit on a limited basis and focused only on a single issue.

The 45th POTUS — the former Imbecile in Chief — is defending vaccines as a way to fend off the scourge of the COVID-19 virus that is still sickening and killing Americans. He took the vaccine in the final days of his single term as president; he has taken the booster shot, too.

Now there’s this conservative anti-vaxxer, Candace Owens, saying Trump is “too old” to know better than to contest the vaccine and the booster.

I am not that far behind Trump in age, so I kinda resent her remark.

Moreover, while I know that Trump has never actually been an anti-vaxxer, he was silent about the efficacy of the vaccines while he served as POTUS. So, for him to say now that he believes in the vaccine is a good thing. I am going to offer a timid golf-clap form of applause for his coming around.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Trump angers the cultists?

Now comes word from the hinterland that Donald Trump’s praise for vaccines to fight the coronavirus pandemic is drawing the ire of the cultists who continue to cling to some phony suspicion about whether the vaccines work.

Of course they work! Donald Trump recently has stepped up his support of the vaccines in the wake of President Biden’s praise over his predecessor’s work to make them available.

Some of the diehard Trump loyalists, though, ain’t buying the notion that the former POTUS is pushing, that they are doing the job they are intended to do.

And that only the unvaccinated are the remaining Americans who are “getting really sick” from the pandemic and its assorted variants.

They are mistaken. The former president is correct.

There. I said it.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Oh, Sarah … shut up!

REUTERS/Rick Wilking

Oh, my. Sarah “Barracuda” Palin had been MIA for a while. Then she shows up again to sputter absolute nonsense about the COVID-19 vaccine.

She said she would be vaccinated “over my dead body.” What the hell? I mean, she’s already come down with the virus. I don’t recall if she got sick from it. Frankly, I hope not. I hope she has made a full recovery. I also wish she would keep her trap shut when talking about the vaccine. Indeed, the “over my dead body” statement very well could become something of a self-fulfilling prophecy, given that the vast majority of people who are dying from the virus are, um, unvaccinated. Don’t misunderstand me: I do not want that to happen to her; I am just stating what I know to be the truth.

She doesn’t know what the hell she’s talking about. The 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee and former half-term Alaska governor is an anti-vaxxer.

She said her kids won’t be vaccinated, either. Doesn’t this dimwit understand she is putting her kids in jeopardy? Well, several of the young Palins are adults now, so they can decide for themselves what to do. My guess is that they’re following Mom down the path of foolishness and recklessness.

I just kind of wish now that Sarah Palin would just slink back into the shadows.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Trump gets booed for … being vaccinated? Huh?

Can it really be that Donald J. Trump’s political base is populated by utter morons, people who actually boo their hero when he tells ’em he received a booster shot to fend off the COVID virus?

Yep, looks like it’s so.

Trump ventured to downtown Dallas on Sunday, along with Bill O’Reilly. They staged some sort of rally at the American Airlines Center. The crowd reportedly was fairly sparse. Trump, though, revealed while answering a question from O’Reilly that he received a booster shot in addition to his vaccination.

Many in the crowd booed their hero!

What the … ?

O’Reilly sought to dismiss the boo birds as a small portion of the gathering at the AAC. Still, it makes me wonder about these individuals. Oh, well. They do seem to mirror the mindlessness of their cult leader.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Mask up, America!

Here comes my latest declaration: With the Omicron variant spreading, along with those other COVID-19 variants, I have decided that I will go nowhere without a mask.

We have a bunch of ’em in the console in our truck. They all fit nicely. They all seem to do what they are intended to do, which is protect us from the virus that is infecting, sickening and killing Americans.

They’re shutting down Broadway shows, ordering fans at pro basketball games to wear masks, reopening COVID testing stations. Dang, man … we’re falling back into some sort of pandemic-defense mode.

There’s a sliver of good news to share. It is that the Omicron variant produces symptoms that appear to be milder than the Delta variant. That’s good, except that Omicron is more contagious; it spreads more easily.

I feel as though we have dodged thousands of bullets so far. We are vaccinated fully, including the booster shot. Our immediate family is taking precautions, too, and they have worked. Another member of my family got quite sick nearly a year ago from the COVID virus, but she’s bounced back.

With this Omicron mess getting messier, I intend now to ensure that I mask up when I enter indoor settings full of people I do not know, nor know their vaccination status.

One more point: I intend to follow every single government “mandate” to the letter.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com