Author Archives: cxpowell

By Chris Powell Who will be the first to call the Rev. Boise Kimber a racist? Kimber, head of the Greater New Haven Clergy Association, is Black. But last week at a rally the association called he got away with saying something no white worthy in Connecticut could say without forfeiting his place in politeContinue reading “Minister’s rebuke to Blacks applies to all Connecticut”

By Chris Powell When state legislators next put a survey in their “constituent service” mailings, it should include the question: How many bears will you accept in your neighborhood before Connecticut authorizes bear hunting? Of course most people don’t want any bears nearby. But then they don’t like the idea of shooting them either, evenContinue reading “Connecticut needs no bears; and who’s paying the rent?”

By Chris Powell Police departments in Connecticut and throughout the country — especially in cities, like Bridgeport, but also in some suburbs, like Enfield — are having trouble recruiting police officers. It’s a tough job and getting tougher amid social disintegration and the virus epidemic. Murders and other violent crimes are up and respect forContinue reading “Hiring cops is getting harder but it’s partly their own fault”

By Chris Powell Federal government money is raining down on Connecticut state government and municipal governments every day and yet, according to the Connecticut Mirror, state and municipal officials say there is no money anywhere for renovating or replacing school ventilation systems, despite the danger of the COVID-19 virus epidemic. While state government long hasContinue reading “Lots of money for salaries but none to purify school air; and more on ivermectin”

By Chris Powell When 14-year-old Tyshaun Hargrove was shot to death last week in New Haven, Acting Police Chief Renee Dominguez called it an “isolated incident.” The chief meant that the murder did not seem connected to any other recent crime, but “isolated incident” it was not. For it was the city’s 19th murder ofContinue reading “Connecticut needs to learn from murdered teen’s life”

By Chris Powell As was demonstrated by the crude and disgraceful disruption of last week’s back-to-school forum in Cheshire, many people in Connecticut are sick and tired of the virus epidemic and government’s steps against it, however necessary they may have seemed. Consumed by their hysteria, the dozen or so people at the forum whoContinue reading “Fighting the virus epidemic in Connecticut is a judgment call every day”

By Chris Powell Science is wonderful. But it is not always settled. Sometimes the prevailing view in science is wrong, especially in medicine. For 2,000 years a primary treatment for disease was bloodletting, sometimes administered with leeches. Doctors don’t do that anymore. A sedative called thalidomide was approved for use in European and other countriesContinue reading “‘Trust the science’? But whose? And Afghans fail to mobilize”

By Chris Powell Congratulations to Eversource Energy for scaring the daylights out of Connecticut residents upon the approach of Tropical Storm Henri, warning that two-thirds of them might lose electricity for as long as three weeks. The company was preparing people to be glad if they just escaped with their lives and never got electricityContinue reading “Eversource repays Connecticut’s hysteria; and the spirit of liberty fades”

By Chris Powell Connecticut’s Republicans have been down so long that they’re entitled to construe almost anything as up. But they’re making too much of Ryan Fazio’s victory in last week’s special election in the 36th Senate District, which includes Greenwich and parts of Stamford and New Canaan. The district ordinarily leans strongly Republican andContinue reading “A small win for Connecticut Republicans; and fixing accountability for the Afghan war”

By Chris Powell Good for New York that it’s getting a new governor as Andrew Cuomo resigns amid a sexual harassment scandal and is succeeded by Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul. Cuomo was vastly overrated, presiding over years of the state’s decline. He was lionized by news organizations even as he sent virus-infected patients into nursingContinue reading “Who covered for Cuomo? And is choice no good now?”