Letters to the Editor: Connectivity vital. Get vaccinated. More on McConnell.
Connectivity vital
Like the uncharted frontier facing Daniel Boone nearly 250 years ago as he passed through the Cumberland Gap, COVID-19 presented the unknown to Kentucky businesses.
Here in Morehead, our company, New Frontier Outfitters, emerged even stronger thanks to our loyal customers, extraordinary community, and the “digital safety net.”
Sadly, a recent Connected Commerce Council study showed that at least 1.5 million U.S. small businesses who failed to adopt digital tools were not so fortunate… they were forced to close their doors permanently amid COVID-19.
The pandemic clearly demonstrated what a vital lifeline American technology (like Instagram, Google Ads and Square) provides to business owners in every industry.
At New Frontier, we are committed to showcasing the creativity, work ethic, and distinctive culture of our proud Appalachian Region, and we rely daily on e-commerce to connect with our customers — whether they’re in London, Kentucky or London, England.
As we’re fond of saying, our eco-friendly outdoors gear is “made for the journey.” Let’s ensure digital tools remain available and the commonwealth’s entrepreneurs have the tools they need to survive and thrive.
Joshua Ravenscraft, CEO and co-owner, New Frontier Outfitters, Morehead
Back to basics
The three Rs, (reading, writing, arithmetic), have been cast away like worn-out shoes by bureaucratic educators and profit-motivated advocators of the latest technological gimmicks that promise quick and easier ways to the honor roll.
K-12 children pay dearly for the quick and easier ways when they reach adulthood. School districts produce unwitting victims by the score every school year, not children with firm grasps of the three Rs, which constitute a rock-hard foundation for all learning and job training.
In America, taxpayers pay $12,000 per student per school year, which is twice the amount that taxpayers pay in other developed nations. Yet, student achievement in America is behind other countries.
Innovate, reinvent, and any changes that negatively impact the three Rs should be barred from discussion in board rooms if genuine learning is the goal for every child. Such flawed goals reached the pandemic level in K-12 America.
The principles of teaching and learning have not changed an iota since Plato opened his Academy in Athens over 400 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. Instead of futile attempts to reinvent the wheel, educators would be better advised to go out to the various landfills and dig up those precious principles. Innocent children would benefit immensely.
Shafter Bailey, Lexington
Let’s do this
Getting vaccinated is the most important thing you can do to help protect yourself and loved ones from COVID-19.
COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective and help your body develop immunity to the virus. Additionally, COVID-19 vaccines cannot give you COVID-19 because they do not contain the live virus that causes the illness.
The vaccines prevent nearly 100 percent of hospitalizations and deaths due to COVID-19, and now, everyone age 12 and older in the United States is eligible to be vaccinated for free, regardless of citizenship status. In fact, over 170 million people in the United States have received at least one dose of the vaccine to date.
To find a vaccination provider near you, go to vaccines.gov, text your ZIP code to 438829 on your mobile device, or call 1-800-232-0233.
If you have been vaccinated, encourage others to do so. Learn about how to talk to your friends and family about getting vaccinated at wecandothis.hhs.gov.
Every person who chooses to get vaccinated brings us all a step closer to moving past the pandemic.
Lisa Mariani, Atlanta, regional administrator for Kentucky, U.S Health Resources and Services Administration
McConnell’s morning
I wonder if Sen. Mitch McConnell awakens each morning paralyzed with fear that he might do something good for the American people, or if he wakes up ecstatic with certainty that he will not.
Tom Troland, Lexington
Uncover the truth
Everyone remember: Jan. 6 was an attempt to overthrow a legitimately elected president of the United States. Several people died in the attempt. Scores were injured. It almost worked.
Democracy requires that we get the truth on who was behind this coup d’état, what did they do, and when did they do it.
Anyone attempting to block investigating this insurrection is part of the insurrection, and should be punished along with the barbarians who got past the front gate.
Gene Lockhart, Lexington