Tag Archives: COVID

national news

Seat belts, stop lights and now masks

Government makes us do all kinds of things that some of us would rather not do.

It makes us wear seat belts while driving or riding in a motor vehicle.

We stop at red lights that signal us to stop … at least most of us do it.

We obey orders not to smoke cigarettes, cigars or pipes indoors.

Now the government at some levels wants us to wear masks when we enter enclosed spaces. Why? To protect us against a killer virus, the COVID 19 and its variants.

What in the name of sanity is wrong with following that order, too?

To me, there’s nothing wrong with it. Do I like donning a mask, fishing for it out of some compartment in my vehicle? No. I don’t … but I do it anyway!

Wear a damn mask! It will save your life and could save the lives of those around you … including those you love dearly.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Political snipers taking pot shots

The political sniper squad is at it hot and heavy.

They are suggesting that President Biden will be a one-termer. That his “performance” in announcing the U.S. withdrawal from the Afghan field of battle has sealed his political fate. They suggest the voters have lost “confidence” in his leadership.

Hmm. Allow me this pithy response: Bullsh**!

The president ended an unwinnable war. Our armed forces executed the evacuation of more than 100,000 Americans and Afghan allies.

We fought al-Qaeda for two decades. We killed the monstrous mastermind behind the 9/11 attack — which is why we went to war in the first place. The Taliban had revived itself long before Joe Biden took office. President Biden’s predecessor negotiated a withdrawal with the Taliban; he set a May 1 evac date, but he lost re-election in November.

President Biden was dealt a bad hand when he took office. Dare I mention, too, that his predecessor provided him with zero national security intelligence because, um, he is continuing to insist that the 2020 election was “stolen” from him?

So, for the first time in two decades, we have no Americans on a battlefield anywhere on Earth.

I could swear as well that I heard President Biden declare his intention to hold the Taliban accountable for the pledges they made in ensuring safe passage for any American still in Afghanistan who wants out. I also heard him say our intelligence forces will be on the highest alert possible for any potential terror threat that may surface in Afghanistan … or anywhere else in the world.

Lost confidence? This drama has yet to play out fully.

We have a pandemic that well could be eliminated in the months ahead. And, oh yes, our economy continues to produce jobs at a record-breaking rate.

All that said, I am not going to join the amen chorus that suggests that Joe Biden tenure as president is toast.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

medical news

Vaccine deniers are falling

Marc Bernier, 65, died over the weekend of COVID-19 complications.

Who was this fellow? He was a conservative Daytona, Fla., radio talker who, um, denied vehemently the effectiveness of the vaccines that are saving millions of Americans’ lives from the killer virus. He refused to be vaccinated.

He is reportedly the third such conservative blowhard to die from the disease.

3rd conservative radio host who condemned vaccines dies of CovidPOLITICOSearchSearchClose

I won’t pile on. I wish his family well as they grapple with the grief of losing a loved one.

There is a profound life lesson to be learned from this fellow’s death. It is that vaccines that have been certified as safe and effective by federal public health officials are worth taking. They will save your life. They also will protect your loved ones and others close to you from exposure to deadly disease.

I have to ask: Do you think Marc Bernier would be alive today had he exercised common sense and stayed away from the right-wing “fake news” propaganda?

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news, medical news

Vaccines work … dammit!

Take a good look at this graph. It comes from Amarillo, Texas’s public health department.

I realize Amarillo is just one mid-sized American city, but these figures clearly mirror a national trend. It shows that the overwhelming majority of us who are being stricken, sickened and put in peril by the COVID-19 virus haven’t received any vaccination.

The yellow images tell me all I need to know. If you are refusing to receive the vaccine that protects you against the pandemic, you are putting yourself at extreme peril. Worse than that, you also are endangering those who are closest to you.

President Biden has told us repeatedly that the current spike in COVID infections — caused by the Delta variant — is a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.”

Hmm. What’s the message?

You need to get vaccinated. Today!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news, medical news, State news

A rebellion takes hold

2 Comments

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Let’s call it what it appears to be: a schoolhouse rebellion.

Nearly 50 independent school districts in Texas have decided to defy Gov. Greg Abbott’s no-local-measures mandate and declared that their students, faculty and staff will mask up when they enter these educational institutions.

That’s good news, at least it is to me. The even better news is that the state is not going to dig in and force the school districts to abide by Gov. Abbott’s ridiculous — and dangerous — executive order.

It is ridiculous because it flies directly against the traditional Republican political mantra that declares local control is the better way to manage public policy issues.

It is dangerous because situations differ from community to community and for the governor to issue an order prohibiting school districts from requiring masks puts everyone in potentially dire peril of being infected by the COVID-19 virus or the Delta variant that has sprung forth.

You want more good news? The Food and Drug Administration this morning gave full authorization for the Pfizer vaccine to be used to inoculate human beings against the coronavirus.

President Biden has declared that vaccination rates are climbing again.

Yes, there remain the fearmongers out there who continue to spread lies about the vaccines. Hospitals are at or over capacity. Children are getting sick. Fully vaccinated Americans are coming down with the virus. So it’s not all peaches and cream, right?

In Texas, though, there appears to be some semblance of sanity and reason taking root in classrooms throughout the state.

Thank goodness.

local news, medical news, State news

Paris ISD gets creative

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

So help me, I cannot get past relishing the decision up yonder in Paris, Texas, to perform an end-around Gov. Greg Abbott’s order barring local governments from imposing mask-wearing mandates on the people they serve.

It’s simply a stroke of genius!

Paris Independent School District trustees voted to make masks a part of the student dress code. “The Board believes the dress code can be used to mitigate communicable health issues, and therefore has amended the PISD dress code to protect our students and employees,” the district said in a statement after the board ruled.

COVID-19 is spiking all over the damn place. The Delta variant is to blame. Too many children are being affected. Paris ISD, which educates about 4,000 students in North Texas, decided it couldn’t stand still while Abbott fought with other districts over their own masking-up decisions.

NBC News reports: Abbott has sought to portray his stance as protecting the freedoms of Texans. “The path forward relies on personal responsibility — not government mandates,” the governor said earlier this month.

Texas school district makes masks part of dress code to get around Gov. Abbott’s order (nbcnews.com)

Personal responsibility, though, well might get more Texans sick from a disease that could kill them.

Let’s mask up, eh? As for Paris ISD’s creative response to ham-handed authority, I will await other school districts’ decision to follow suit.

State news

Paris ISD swims against the tide

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

I have ruminated over the past several days — privately and on this blog — about the political realities in play as school districts defy Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s mandate banning local governments from issuing orders such as mask mandates in this COVID virus era.

The reality is this: School districts that have taken action in defiance generally represent constituencies that lean toward Democratic politicians and away from Republican pols, such as the former POTUS, No. 45.

Then we have Paris, Texas, where the public school board has voted 5-1 to impose mask mandates for students, faculty and staff. Why is that noteworthy? Because Paris sits in a community that voted overwhelmingly for POTUS 45 in the 2020 presidential election.

The Paris school board’s decision to include face masks as part of the students’ dress code was an inspired and creative way to outflank Gov. Abbott’s ridiculous no-mandate mantra.

They are more concerned in the Paris Independent School District about children’s safety and health than about whatever push back they might get from their constituents.

I simply want to offer this: Bravo!

local news

Paris ISD has a solution

1 Comment

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

When in doubt, just change the in-house rules to counter external pressure. So seems to be the mantra at the Paris (Texas) Independent School District.

Paris ISD has just decided to add masks to the district’s student dress code. thus defying the no-mask mandate order issued by Gov. Greg Abbott.

Hmm. Creative, don’t you think?

Abbott has been pushing back against school districts issuing mask mandates to battle the COVID outbreak caused by the Delta variant. Paris ISD — a small district up yonder next to the Red River — decided to perform an end-around the governor.

KETR-FM radio reports: “The Texas Governor does not have the authority to usurp the Board of Trustees’ exclusive power and duty to govern and oversee the management of the public schools of the district,” a release from Paris ISD said after the meeting. “Nothing in the Governor’s Executive Order 38 states he has suspended Chapter 11 of the Texas Education Code, and therefore the Board has elected to amend its dress code consistent with its statutory authority.”

Paris ISD, Defying Abbott, Adds Masks To Dress Code | 88.9 KETR

Therein lies a template for other school districts to follow. It well might withstand any court challenge that Abbott or Attorney General Ken Paxton file decide to pursue to keep Abbott’s ridiculous no-mandate rule in effect.

I am going to offer a quiet, but still enthusiastic, hand-clap to Paris ISD for showing the way around what I continue to believe is the governor’s power grab.

national news

Mask-mandate issue takes strange turn in Austin

3 Comments

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

What in the world do we make of this news?

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the king of the no-mask-mandate realm of Republicans politicians, has been diagnosed as carrying the COVID-19 virus. He attended a political gathering in Collin County where — reportedly — there wasn’t a mask to be seen on anyone’s puss!

The governor is not showing symptoms. His wife, Cecilia, has tested negative. Those closest to the governor are undergoing tests. Abbott is isolating within the Governor’s Mansion.

Two thoughts come to mind immediately.

First, I wish Gov. Abbott a speedy and complete recovery. Really. I do. I do not want anyone — even pols who pi** me off with their reckless anti-mask-mandate rhetoric — to suffer from this disease.

Second, it is fair to wonder whether a positive test for a potentially fatal disease might turn Abbott from being a mask-mandate denier to someone who understands why local community leaders need the flexibility to issue mask mandates for themselves.

OK, I “wonder” about it. Will it happen? I doubt seriously that Abbott is going to reverse himself … just because he has tested positive for a virus that can be fended off by a face mask.

Abbott has been handed a bit of a public-relations setback with this COVID diagnosis. It counters the judicial support he got from the all-Republican Texas Supreme Court that has upheld his no-mandate authority, saying that he has the power to tell local governments they can do nothing more than what he allows them to do. I hate disagreeing with the learned justices … but they’re full of crap-ola!

Dallas public school officials are continuing to issue mask orders, along with their colleagues in Fort Worth, Houston and Austin. Our school leaders in Princeton, where my wife and I live, are leaving it to parents to decide; it turns out I see a lot of masks on children as they play in the school yard down the street from our house … which pleases me greatly.

There surely will be a lot of tittering over Gov. Abbott’s COVID diagnosis. I won’t go there. I intend to focus on his stubborn refusal to allow local officials determine the best way to protect their constituents against a disease that could kill them.

medical news

Un-vaxxed: Stay away from me

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The disgraceful politicization of the COVID-19 vaccine effort continues apace.

It’s a sad state of affairs into which we have entered. Politics is now driving a good portion of Americans’ decision whether to receive the vaccines that are available to ward off potentially fatal infections from COVID-19.

I want to share a view expressed by someone on my Facebook “friends” network. This individual wrote:

“I don’t know your medical history and it’s none of my business. Get the vaccine or don’t get the vaccine. That’s your choice. My choice is this. You won’t be welcome at my house if you are not vaccinated. I wish peace and good health to anyone to happens to read this post.”

So … there you have it. I hereby am going to adopt that philosophy.

The good news is that we don’t chum around with those who are fervently anti-vaccination. Our friends and immediate family members all are pro-vaccine. To my knowledge they all have received both doses of whatever vaccine they received, be it Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson.

The maddening aspect of all of this has been the anger, angst and stubbornness of those who continue to buy into goofy notions about phony “side effects” of the vaccines. You’ve heard ’em , right? You take the vaccine and you become a chimpanzee; or your skin takes on some sort of adhesive quality; or that you become a eunuch.

Let’s see … more than 160 million Americans have been vaccinated and no one has come forth with any evidence that they have become a chimp.

So the specious argument continues. Why? Because you can’t talk sensibly to those who adhere to nonsense.

The anti-vaxxers bitch about losing their “freedom.” Hey, they are free to do — or refuse to do — whatever they damn well please.

Just stay the hell away from me and my family. Are we clear?