Page 12 - Ct Viewpoints News Today

COVID-19 will push nursing home design forward The second-floor courtyard at the Southington Care Center. Myles Brown Over 40 percent of American deaths attributed to COVID-19 have been nursing home residents. Outdated nursing home designs contributed to the scale of this tragedy in Connecticut. Many design changes that could have prevented the spread of COVID-19 were already needed to improve the well-being of nursing home residents. The pandemic has made these issues impossible to ignore. A ...

Disabled, marginalized, stalled and walled Yehyun Kim :: ctmirror.org Alex Bode, left, listens to her speech therapist at home in North Branford. Bode, who likes people and has spent most of her time at home during the pandemic, said, “I mean it’s very boring. I have nothing to do.” As a bilingual health information specialist for PATH P2P Family Voices CT and National Family Voices Cultural Responsiveness Telehealth Team, I offer more than professional expertise as well as despair for th...

Truth or consequences: The impact of lie-based politics A radio show by the name in the headline, emceed by a man named Ralph Edwards, became a big hit starting in 1940. It eventually became a TV show, and all told, it lasted for decades. The format of the show was to be asked a question, and if it was not answered truthfully, the contestant submitted to undertaking a silly stunt of almost any kind. The show seemed reflective of a culture that valued untruth for perceived rewards, however trivi...

The marijuana legalization debate must be based on facts In response to my earlier piece on why Connecticut lawmakers should reject marijuana commercialization,  Brendan Ruberry wrote a rebuttal that, on its face seems scathing, but to be clear, the attempted rebuttal falls flat and well off the mark. First, Ruberry’s attempts to discredit the fact that users of today’s high potency forms of marijuana have been found to be five times more likely to develop psychosis. He calls it “a half-...

In his budget address on February 10,  Gov. Ned Lamont announced his intent to expand broadband connectivity in Connecticut, an effort to be lauded. Connecticut enjoys a significant competitive advantage for economic development in the Connecticut Education Network (CEN) “ … a 2,500 route mile, all optical, high-performance internet network.” The density of CEN within Connecticut is impressively high.  Connecticut taxpayers funded its initial phase; the Obama administration then added m...

Religious freedom is less than righteousness The CT Viewpoints opinion “Religious freedom is more than religion” shows just how entrenched is the sincerely held belief that one man’s notion of “freedom” dictates the liberty of others. The author, Brian Festa, starts by claiming that the Vatican’s doctrinal office is “dead wrong” on a matter of doctrine as it relates to the COVID-19 vaccine. He stresses that “faithful Catholics” will recognize that the Vatican is unaware of t...

Lamont must stop waffling on the Killingly power plant issue Protestors outside the Capitol in 2019 opposing the Killingly power plant project. On January 19, Gov. Ned Lamont gave his bluntest comments yet regarding the controversial Killingly natural gas plant, saying, “I don’t want to build Killingly.”  Yet, Lamont still refuses to wield his executive authority to actually stop its construction, and instead offers vague suggestions that market forces will stop the plant’s constructio...

Felons and non-citizens on Connecticut juries? Not a good idea A move is afoot to extend the privilege of sitting on a jury to released felons and non-citizen long-term residents. According to a recent report, supported by Connecticut Chief Justice Richard Robinson, making this change would increase Black and Latinx representation. This is a laudatory goal. But it undermines the very foundations of jury participation as a key aspect of citizenship. Steven Wilf Juries traditionally were composed...

Vaccinate educators now A scene from the CEAs "Vaccinate educators now" video. Nearly a year after the coronavirus pandemic forced schools to shut down, no one is more eager for a full reopening than teachers, who understand the myriad advantages of in-person instruction and the hurdles of going remote. If we prioritize school reopening, however, we must prioritize vaccination of teachers. Jeff Leake In its latest guidelines on school reopening, the clearest yet, the Centers for Disease Control...

The Maybrook rail line study is a waste of $1 million The Maybrook rail line has a public trail alongside, making it unsuitable for double tracking. Anyone who follows this column knows I’m a “train guy.”  I’ve always been a supporter of mass transit and continue to be.  But sometimes I wonder just where the state’s priorities are when they chose to waste $1 million on yet another crazy study. Jim Cameron This time it’s a study of the Maybrook line, a 14-mile, single-track of rus...