- Computer
technical help
DISCLAIMER: It is assumed that users are familiar with the operating
system they are using and comfortable with making the suggested changes.
I will not be held responsible if changes you make cause a system failure.
- Annoyances.org. Readers
exchange problems and solutions for dealing with annoyances (freeze-ups,
sluggish performance, losing Internet connection) that pop up for
users of the various editions of the Windows (95/98/Me/XP) operating
system. I sought help here when my Windows 98 computer froze up at
the Windows start up screen. 7/15/05
- Ask Me For Help. If
you have a computer problem, try writing to Ask Me For Help and get
the free advice of other computer users, hopefully more expert than
you are. 7/15/05
- Backup using Windows XP accessory program. If Windows XP was installed
using the default settings, you probably do not have the Windows backup
program installed on your computer. It is essential that you a good
backup program to be sure to keep an extra, secure copy of your documents
in case your harddrive breaks down. For
information from Microsoft on how to get their backup program.
You'll need the installation CDs for Windows XP that hopefully came
with your computer. 12/15/06
- Beginners
Guides: 99 Performance Tips for Windows XP. From
PC Stats.5/17/07
- BrightHouse
or Road Runner in Tampa Bay Florida -- get help on how to get
your email when you are away from home and don't have access to your
own computer, plus the answers to many more questions. I found especially
helpful how to set-up
your mail server using Outlook. Again, this only applies to BrightHouse
(RoadRunner) users in Tampa Bay, Florida. Can use live
chat for help. 12/14/06
- Buying a new computer -- advice.
- CD
drive tray does not open. I had this problem with my HP Pavilion
a1230n desktop computer. A CD got stuck in the drive and the
drive tray would not open no matter how often I pushed the eject button.
I freed the drive by using a paperclip as described at this HP
site. Be sure your computer power cord is unplugged before you
try this. I disclaim any responsibility if you ruin your CD drive
or cause any other problems. But what I did was follow the directions
exactly in the HP site with good results. If you have an HP
Desktop, this is one site you should know to solve your computer
problems. 12/14/06
- Clear-type.
Make the type easier to read on your laptop LCD monitor. For more
information from Microsoft
on Clear-type. 3/13/05
- CCleaner.
According to April 2007, page 35 of Maximum PC magazine, the free
program CCleaner "dumps Windows XP's useless detritus and clears
out" other unnecessary files. This program aims to rid your computer
of all the junk files that slow it down. 3/6/07
- Computer Geeks.Com.
Computer experts and those just learning ask for help and share answers
and tips attempting to solve computer problems. Special
help in removing spyware and viruses. 5/18/06
- Defrag and/or scandisk
won't run. Try the advice in this thorough article from PC
Service Tips. 5/17/07 According to this next article, Defrag doesn't
do anything of significance to speed up modern computers. 23
Ways To Speed WinXP Without Defrag 5/18/07
- Dell
tells how to protect your computer from hackers, spyware and viruses.
Dell also gives you steps you can take to
speed up your computer that seems to be running so much slower
than it did when you first got it. Advice here is helpful for all
computer owners, not just those who own Dell computers. Similar information
available from GetNetWise.
6/25/05
- Earth Village.
This is one site aimed at only those who are advanced computer users.
"...tech-themed website dedicated to providing its readers with
the latest tech news, product reviews, and bargains in a safe and
friendly online environment." Computer technies interested in
sharing their expertise with one another and the public offer help
to enable you to fix some of the problems on your computer. 6/25/05
- Kim
Komando, radio talk show
host and columnists, departs her computer expertise on her popular
website. Includes links to her past columns.
I
especially like Kim's computer tips.
3/20/09
- Macintosh (Apple)
computer club in Tampa Bay, Florida. 4/13/05
- Microsoft
Communities. People who use Microsoft products share information
on various topics. 5/26/06
- Outlook. If you use Microsoft's Outlook as your email program, you
should be concerned that if your harddrive fails, then you could lose
all the email messages you have received. This Microsoft site tells
you how
to make a back up copy of these saved email message. 4/28/06
- PCYouBuy offers Computer
tips and help. 3/13/05
- Power surges can damage your computer. PC
World magazine explains how to protect your computer. 9/7/05
- Printer problems?
I kept getting paper jams in my Dell inkjet printer. I got great
advice from the site Fix
Your Printer. The advise told
me to turn my printer upside down and shake it, and there would be
a good chance something would fall out that was blocking the flow
of the paper. I did just that -- and a ball point pen fell out. I
have no idea how it got there. Well, this site helped me with my
printer problem and maybe it can help you, too. The advice, by the
way, was free.5/15/09
- Reinstalling Windows
98 or 95. Some of us still have older computers running either Windows
95 or 98. Inevitably, when a computer gets older, it's bound to run
into problems that can only be fixed by reinstalling the operating
systems. This website gives you step by step instructions for doing
just that.
- Safe
Mode. Sometimes when your computer is running very slowly, the
problem may be that too many programs are automatically starting every
time you boot up (start) your computer. You might try running your
computer in Safe Mode which disables many of the programs that may
be slowing down your computer. If in Safe Mode, your computer continues
to run very slowly, than it's likely your problem does not result
from too many programs running at Start Up. 5/16/05
- Scandisk for Windows XP? Scandisk is not available for Windows XP.
Microsoft reports " you can use the Error-Checking tool in Windows
XP to check the integrity of your hard disk." See (1),
(2)
5/26/06
- Speeding
up your computer. Microsoft offers helps for making your sluggish
computer get some renewed energy. 7/10/05
- Spyware
removal programs reviewed. C|Net's Download.Com reviews ten popular
programs for removing spyware from your computer. I use three spyware
removal programs: Trend Micro Anti-Spyware, which I paid for, and
two free programs, Spybot -- Search & Destroy and Adaware SE Personal.
I was surprised to find that Download.com rated the two free programs
higher than the one I paid for. Download.Com provides links to all
ten of the anti-spyware programs reviewed. Adaware was rated best,
Spybot eighth, and Trend ninth. I try to cover all the bases by using
all three of these programs just about every week, and invariably,
each program discovers spyware not detected by the others.
Before running these Spyware removal programs, I am always certain
to use Windows XP's restore program (Start/All Programs/Accessories/System
Tools/System Restore) because there is always the possibility that
I may remove files identified as Spyware that are actually needed
in running important programs on my computer. For some cautions about
removing spyware, see the University
of Virginia.
For a good article on Spyware, see Alan
Zisman. 5/10/06
- St. Petersburg Times (FL) provides computer help and information
from its technology editor Dave
Gussow. The St. Pete Times also has a blog
giving the weekly tech news, links, and comments. 2/15/06
- Start-up files. If you suspect that your computer may be running
slow because many unnecessary programs are automatically starting
up when you turn on your computer, you can see what these start up
program files are by clicking on Start/Run and then type in msconfig
in the open slot. Click OK. Before you select any unknown
files to disable in the System Configuration Start Up tab, check out
what the file is used for at one or all of these sites. You don't
want to end up disabling a start-up program that will cause Windows
to crash or in some other way foul up your system: SystemInfo
Answers
that work 3/3/07
- System
Configuration Utility. In addition to the Earth
Village site above, you can also find out how to use the System
Configuration Utility here, but be sure to only attempt to use this
program if you are an expert computer user. Misuse can do more harm
than good. However, if your computer has started running so slowly,
it may be because you have unwanted programs running in the background,
using up much of your computer's resources. If you're an expert, you
can use this program to disable these unwanted programs from running
in the background every time you start your computer.
- Sometimes one or more of these automatic running programs may
slow down your computer and make it difficult for you to run the
scandisk and defrag
programs. For more information on the System Configuration Utility,
see Microsoft's
site. 5/16/05
- Tampa Bay Computer Society.
Meets monthly in Clearwater, FL. Offers free technical help to its
members. Even fixes computers without charge for members. Annual dues
$30. 3/13/05
- TechSupportGuy.
Ten years ago a fourteen year old computer nerd founded this website
to supply answers to all the computer questions he was getting from
friends and relatives. Now he continues to offer free advice. 3/1/09
- Toejumper.
Windows 95/98, XP, tips for speeding up your sluggish computer. Troubleshooting
start up problems. Directions for getting access to the list of programs
that automatically start up when you first turn on your computer,
and shows you how to remove front he start up list that programs that
may dragging your computer down. I found that even after I had uninstalled
McAfee's antivirus program, pieces of it still remained in Start Up,
causing my Windows 98 computer to keep the Mouse icon-hour glass running
forever. 7/9/05
- Tutorials on basics of using the computer, email, internet exploration,
and online shopping. From
the Buffalo and Erie County (NY) libraries. 4/12/05
- Virus removal.
You just got the bad news that you have a virus on your computer.
Try following these steps for removing a virus -- from North
Carolina Wesleyan College. 12/21/06
- Windows Support Center by
Jim Eshelman. Information on using and trouble shooting Windows 95/98
through Windows XP. 7/14/05
- American Civil Liberties Union.
Claims to fight to preserve individual rights guaranteed by our Constitution
and Bill of Rights. 9/15/05
- American Spectator.
Seems like a good source of political debate, but I just came across
this site and have not yet had the chance to examine it closely. Wikipedia
does call the American Spectator an "conservative U.S. monthly
magazine covering news and politics, edited by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr.
and published by the non-profit American Spectator Foundation."10/18/06
- American Thinker.
From the site's About page: "The American Thinker
is devoted to the thoughtful exploration of issues of importance to
Americans. Contributors
are accomplished in fields beyond journalism, and animated to
write for the general public out of concern for the complex and morally
significant questions on the national agenda." I first became
aware of this site when a relative sent me a
link to an article in the site that discusses the Democratic Party
and the American Jew. Power
Line reports on the founding of the American Thinker in 2003.
10/18/06
- Antisemitism.
Former New York City mayor Ed Koch's radio address on the frightening
growth of antisemitism. 7/9/05
- Bill O'Reilly, controversial
commentator for the Fox News channel. 9/15/05
- Bob Grant,
New York City talk show host. When I lived in New York, Bob Grant
was my favorite
talk show host. I remember so well Bob yelling at callers to get
off his phone. Even more than ten years ago, Bob was always threatening
to quit the talk show business because he was so disgusted with so
many of his callers, but more than a decade later, he still is on
the radio, stirring up his radio listeners. 5/6/08
- Born into
the cradle of war. A Wayne State college student writes a fascinating
story of revisiting Germany where she was born in 1944. The student
Erika Martin examines her early years growing up at the end of the
Nazis area and in Germany after the war. The controversy here revolves
around her attempts to determine to what extent the typical, average
German knew about the slaughter that went on in the concentration
camps. Ms. Martin points to xenophobia
(hatred of foreigners) as the root of so much evil in history and
in the world today. 9/22/05
- Capital Hill Blue,
published by Doug Thompson, journalist and photographer. Site claims
that "Thompson launched Capitol Hill Blue as the web's first
political news site, in 1994." From reviewing this site on September
28, 2005, this site appears very critical of the Bush administration.
Thompson
shows and regrets that he proved vulnerable to a phony source
of information for some of his articles. 9/28/05
- Conservative, Republican viewpoint on the news, FreeRepublic.com. From
a liberal perspective, see Media
Matters. 9/23/04
 Conservative views
of Ann Coulter, Newt Gingrich, Pat Buchanan and others, from Human
Events. For contrasting views, see Media
Matters "comprehensively
monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation
in the U.S. media." Here are websites
of newscasters and commentators who many consider on the liberal
side of the news: Rachel
Maddow, Keith
Obermann, Chris
Matthews. For links to many other
MSNBC commentators and newscasters
... 8/3/09- Criminal,
marriage, divorce and other personal records once only available
at the court house -- should they be available to the public
over the Internet? An article from the New York Law school website.
5/21/05
- Crusades. I read
a book What's Great about Christianity, by Dinesh
D'Sousa. D’Sousa. The author led me to believe that Jews were
not victimized by the Crusaders. But when I read another book God's
War, by Christopher
Tyerman, the view here was that Jewish communities were slaughtered
by crusaders who on their march to free what is now Europe from Moslem
rule took every opportunity to kill Jews along their route to Jerusalem.
See, for example, pages 100 to 106 in a section titled "The
Jewish Pogrom of 1096." I also found these web sources confirming
that Jews often faced persecution at the hand of the crusaders. (1)"The
Crusaders came to liberate the Holy Land from the "infidels" and woe
to any Jews who stood in their way." (2)"Crusaders
'exterminated by many massacres the Jews of almost all Gaul,
with the exception of those who accepted conversion.'” (3)
From Fordham
University's website: "As they [crusaders] passed through
Germany on their way to Jerusalem this motley crew killed thousands
of 'infidel' Jews in the larger cities such as Speyer, Worms, Mayence
[Mainz], and Cologne." 8/6/2008
- Cults.
Religious cults discussed by the Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance (Tolerance.org). I suggest you read first the
site's essay
on cults in general. Then check out its parent site Tolderance.org which
is "a web project of the Southern Poverty Law Center" that "aims
to fight hate and promote tolerance." I did a Google
search, looking only for edu sites (colleges and universities)
on the Southern Poverty Law Center to see if it is a reputable organization. One
search-hit was a memo to graduate students in the Department
of Psychology, Northwestern University. This memo includes this statement: "The
widely respected Southern Poverty Law Center has now come forward
on the realities and causes of the terrible wave of hate crimes against
transgender and transsexual women now rampant in many U.S. cities." 10/6/05
- Daniel Pipes. Harvard graduate, former college professor, and a
specialist on Islam, Daniel frequently writes about the Arab-Israeli
conflict. Biography.
His articles
published in the New York Sun, Jerusalem Post, Los Angeles Times,
and Time Magazine. In
July 18, 2006 article in the New York Sun, Pipes criticizes Israel
for what he considers its appeasement policies since 1993 that have
only encouraged its enemies. 8/7/06
- Doug
McIntyre, radio commentator from KABC 790 in Los Angeles, in an
article dated May 5, 2006, explains why he has changed his attitude
toward President Bush. For a view that seems to cite evidence opposed
to McIntyre's reasons for opposing the war in Iraq, I suggest you
read the book Saddam's
Secrets: How an Iraqi General Defied And Survived Saddam Hussein.
Vertical Pulse gives
highlights of the book. Larry
Elder, attorney and radio personality, interviews the author of
the book. A writer for the New
Sun also comments on the book and its author. 6/10/06
- Daily Grail. Articles,
book reviews on the occult and other controversial subjects, See an
interesting review of this site by the independent
student newspaper of the Bronx High School of Science. 8/20/05
- Drudge
Report. Read this site with a skeptical view. Reporter Matt Drudge
has been accused of publishing stories without adequately checking
out the facts, but on occasion his articles have broken major stories. 8/3/04
- Da
Vinci Code. Dan's Brown best selling book has stirred up much
controversy. One controversy relates to the legal challenge that he
may have borrowed too much material from a earlier book Holy
Blood, Holy Grail. The question becomes -- is Dan Brown guilty
of plagiarism and/or copyright infringement? Here are sources that
tackle this question: 6/12/06
- March 13, 2006
article by Columbia University law professor Tim Wu.
- March
26, 2006 article by John Mark Eberhart in The Kansas City
Star.
- April
7, 2006 article from Arts & Entertainment giving results
of lawsuit in England's High Court. Another
article also published on April 7, 2006 giving High Court
verdict in Sky News.
- Evaluating
controversial sources
of information from the writing lab of Purdue University. Includes
evaluating bibliographic citations, internet sources. Although this
site in itself is not controversial, the information on it will help
you to evaluate and judge the credibility of controversial sources.
Includes links
to additional sources that will help you evaluate information
on the Internet. One especially good linked-recommendation is the
article by Hope T. Tillman, Director of Libraries at Babson College
-- Evaluating Quality
on the Net. 5/21/05
- Facts
or Fiction -- or partial truths. Help in telling the difference.
PolitiFact is
a helpful source from Florida's St. Petersburg Times. Big challenge
today (August 15, 2009) is to weed out the fact from fiction regarding
Health Care Reform, especially when we are bombarded by email
messages claiming to deliver the truth. See
article on "Are most forwarded email messages
on political subjects true?" 8/19/09
- ABC
News offers a fact checker resource related to President
Barack Obama's health care initiative. 8/15/09
- Fact Check from the Democratic
viewpoint. Paid for by the Democratic
National Committee. Site titled "Know the Facts about Barack
Obama." 8/15/09
- Canadian
Health Coalition. Canadians overwhelmingly support public
health care. 9/15/09
- David Axelrod, Senior advisor to President Obama, sent out
this
email to perhaps millions of Americans on August 13, 2009.
8/15/09
- Huffington Post
site has article titled "Fact
Check: Distortion rife in health care debate. 8/15/09
- President Obama may be willing to drop
necessity of government run healthcare. 8/16/09
- Results
of Google Advanced Search restricted to the last 24 hours
on all these words together: fact check health care reform.
9/15/09 at 11:42 AM.
- Schwitzer Heath Care blog. Gary Schwitzer is identified as
connected to the University of Minnesota School of Journalism & Mass
Communication.Criticizes single source, unsigned "documents" as
being unreliable. 9/15/09
- White
House under President Obama's administration responds
to questions on health care reform. 8/15/09
- Yahoo. I typed this question into the Yahoo search engine and
got these hits: Is
Canadian health care better than US health care? 8/15/09
- Free
exchange on campus. On March 30, 2006, I received an email from
the American Federation of
Teachers, that National union that my Statue union (NYSUT)
is affiliated with recommending the site Free Exchange On Campus.
I reviewed the site and concluded that it is, indeed, informative
on the importance of preserving and fostering academic freedom on
college campuses. The Free Exchange on Campus website is critical
of David Horowitz, the author of the The Professors,
subtitled "the 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America."
- Flying
Saucer reports from
around the world. Fact or fantasy? 8/3/04
- Free
Thought Radio. Hosts radio talk shows that oppose traditional
religions. 4/27/07
- Glenn Beck. TV Fox and
radio commentator. Frequently attacks what he views as the "Radicals
on the Left." Color of Change aims
to strengthen "the Black America's political voice." As of August
14, 2009, its website provides a form to calling Beck's advertisers
to drop him. 8/14/09
- Goldberg,
Bernard.
Author of four best selling books, including
A Slobbering Love Affair which I just finished reading.
In this book, Goldberg takes the view that the vast majority of newspaper
reporters not only favored but slanted their news to support the
Presidential candidacy of Barrack Obama. Several book reviews: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) 5/23/09
- Hannity,
Sean. Conservative radio and TV talk show host. 2/17/06
- Hiram Bingham IV Debate. Haram
Bingham is considered a hero by some for his work in behalf of saving
Jews from Nazi persecution during the Holocaust. Others, however,
take issue with this view and hold that Bingham at the end of his
life was an anti-semite and a Holocaust denier. Source
1. Source
2. Source 3 (Scroll
half down this web page until you come to the section Raiders of the
Lost Ark) 2/20/05
- Immigration
-- legal and illegal. On July 14, 2007, I heard Salem College professor
Aviva Chomsky speak at Feed
Your Head Books about her latest book They
Take Our Jobs! and 20 other myths about immigration.
After hearing her speak and purchasing her book, I wanted to get more
background on the subject before tackling the book. A
great site I found gives three contrasting views on immigration.
This is a great source to get a quick overview of the different arguments
for and against the current immigration controversy. 7/14/07
- Intelligent Design is stirring much controversy today as its supporters
want taught in the classroom a theory that the design, order in the
universe cannot be explained by evolution alone but reflects an intelligent
force (God) that controlled the evolutionary process. The
New York Times gives a comprehensive picture of this controversy.
11/18/05
- International
Responsibilities Task Force of the American Library Association's
Social Responsibilities.The authors of this site promote it as "Alternative
News, Analysis, and Commentary." Provides links to many sources
that seem to be anti-Bush administration.2/15/06
- Israel/Palestinian conflict
- Google hits on the words history
Israel Palestinians. Now doing the same Google search but
limiting myself to hits updated in the last three months as
of July 20, 2006, and all from edu domains --
American colleges or universities.
- Masada 2000.org.
From a Zionist, pro-Israeli perspective, the background of the
Israeli/Palestinian conflict.7/20/06
- Middle East Research and Information Project. A
primer on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Broken up into
14 sections including Zionism, British Mandate, UN Partition Plan.
Unfortunately, only goes up to the year 2000, but still this website
seems a very good source for background to the current conflict.
7/20/06
- Mideast: On Target.
On a trip to Israel in 2005, I met Elliot Chodoff, one of the
founders of this website that discusses the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Also offers a newsletter that you can receive regularly through
your email program. 10/3/06
- MidEast Web. A brief
history of Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A quick look at this
Website makes me think that it attempts to give a balanced view.
From its About page: "MidEast Web was started by people active
in Middle East dialog and peace education efforts. Our goal is
to weave a world-wide web of Arabs, Jews and others who want to
build a new Middle East based on coexistence and neighborly relations."
For information about its founders
and supporters...7/20/06
- Neturei Karta Intl. Jews
United Against Zionism. This group of Orthodox Jews oppose the
establishment of Israel. Some of their rabbis met with President
Ahmadinejad of Iran . Wikipedia
article on this group. Another
Jewish group opposed to Zionism. Two other
Orthodox Jewish groups call Neture Karta a disgrace for
meeting with the Iranian president. Israel's
chief rabbi also condemns Neturei Karta. Links to recent
articles in the Jerusalem
Post about Neturei Karta.
- Israel
Insider. On June 14, 2009, I received an email from
a good friend recommending this site which he said he reads daily.
- Israeli
leadership has taken a stand on the consequences of withdrawing
from Iraq. 4/20/07.
- Jesse Jackson, civil rights activist. His Rainbow/Coalition
website and commentaries
on civil rights and political issues, from 1998 to the present.9/15/05
- John
Loftus, a St. Petersburg,
Florida resident, is a former Justice Department prosecutor who once
had the highest security clearance, enabling him to learn of secret,
controversial issues, including Nazis war crimes. He now investigates
and reveals how terrorists operate. 8/18/05
- Krasko, Genrich
L. Professor Krasko, although a retired physics professor, has written
much in a philosophyical vein, tackling such
topics as finding meaning, purpose in life. See his book, for example,
This
Unbearable Boredom of Being: A Crisis of Meaning in America.
You can also read an excerpt of this here.
- Krauthammer,
Charles. His articles published in the Washington Post. Especially
interesting column on President
Bush's final interview with White House press corps. 1/11/09
- Liberal
columnists. Links to liberal columnists given by Oliver
Willis. And a link to Oliver
Willis home page in which he refers the reader to articles critical
of Conservatives. 6/12/09.
- Liberal
versus conservative. On June 12, 2009, a Google search on "Liberal
vs Conservative" brought up these links.ight be helpful
for those trying to learn the differences between liberals and
conservatives explained by a variety of sources.
- Mark Levin. Talk
show host of his own radio program, Mark
Levin blasts Bill O'Reilly for attacking
conservative talk show hosts. Levin's
own website. 4/9/09
- Michael
Savage, talk show host, considers himself an independent
thinker, critical at times of both Democrats and Republicans,
conservatives
and liberals. Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with him,
Savage will certainly stimulate your own critical thinking.
5/22/05
- Media
Matters. Claims to be
a non-profit organization "dedicated to comprehensively monitoring,
analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S.
media."
9/15/05
- Michael
Medved, conservative
talk show host and movie critic. Dozens of his past
columns online. 3/1/06
- Michael Moore.
Controversial director of the movie Fahrenheit 911. 9/28/05
- MoveOn.org.
Political action organization that seeks to organize average Americans
into a powerful political force.
- National
ID cards, the pro's and con's, from Baylor University.
- National
Public Radio. Government and public funded radio shows, free of
commercial advertisements. Emphasizes cultural, educational program
that many would consider too intellectual, too sophisticated for the
average American. For a thorough description of NPR, see Wikipedia.
- Moslems
against terrorism. A site promoting the view that Moslems should
condemn terrorism, including suicide bombing. For background information
on our struggle against terrorism, refer to links provided by Holmes
Community College in Grenada, Mississippi. 3/26/05
- Obama
supporters argue that
this site offers refutation of criticism voiced by Jerome Corsi
in his book Obama
Nation. Also a Huffington
Post article by Joseph A. Palermo criticizes Corsi's
book. 9/2/08
- Open
Mindedness. A great essay, I think, on the importance of being
opened minded. Especially applies I think to those who are politically
liberal or conservative and who do not even consider the views of
others who have a different opinion. 5/26/06
- PoliticalFact.com. Sponsored
by the Florida St. Petersburg Times, this site uses a meter to
rate statements from politicians, lobbyists and others who generously
give their opinions on what's going on in Washington, D.C. Let
it be known that
many readers often do take issue with the objectivity
of the St. Pete Times reports as facts, especially concerning the
Arab/Israeli conflict. 1/29/09
- Political parties: Democrats,
Republicans, Libertarians. 8/14/09
- President Obama's official
White House site. As of August 14, 2009,
this site explains the President's views on health care reform. 8/14/09
- Primer Action Center.
Reports on the Middle East crisis. For contrasting view, see the Cairo,
Egypt Times. 8/4/04
- Religious controversy.
Hardly a subject could be more controversial than religion. I have
a special interest in examining both sides
of religious questions. In this section of my Controversy category,
I will spotlight sites that tackle controversial religious questions.
What questions do I select? Whatever interests me.
- Did Christ's resurrection as described in the New Testament
actually take place? A debate between Michael Horner and Dan
Barker from the Freedom
from Religion website. I recognize that the name of the source
where this debate is published suggests a pro-skeptic view,
but I think if you examine the transcript of the debate you will
agree that both sides of the issue are fairly presented. 9/14/09
- A growing number of Conservative Jewish
synagogues are including music in their services -- music that
includes not only the organ,
but guitars, too, as well as other instruments. How are congregants
reacting to this change? From
J. Weekly. From My
Jewish Learning. From Washington
Jewish Week. 9/14/09
- Rhine
Institute (An Institute for the Study of Consciousness) at
Durham, North Carolina. Research on reincarnation, ESP, healers.
2/12/08
- Rush
Limbaugh, popular radio talk show host, gives his views on
political issues. Rush has been labeled a stanch conservative,
ardent supporter
of the Republican party and President Bush. But visit this site
to make up your own mind.5/25/05
- Savage Nation. Radio
conservative talk show host Michael Savage stirs up much controversy.
USA
Today in 2003 reported that Savage was fired by MSNBC in 2003.
See these sites for different views on Savage: (1) ,
(2) , (3) ,
(4) , (5) .4/9/09
- Sean Hannity, the conservative
voice on the Hannity and Colmes TV show. For his partner's liberal
views, read Alan Colmes
site. Colmes includes a link
to a test that could help to determine if you are liberal or conservative
-- or something in between. 5/22/05
- Skepticism. Offers views that attempt to overturn beliefs in Flying
Saucers, ESP, vampires, zombies, ghosts, etc.
- Slavery. For all my adult life, I had thought that when Lincoln
emancipated the slaves, the path was cleared for blacks to make progress,
free to reach financial equality with whites. How mistaken I was!
The Emancipation Proclamation was only the first step in a long journey
toward equality. I learned in Douglas A. Blackmon's book Slavery
by Another Name that thousands of "freed slaves" in
the South were only imprisoned and their services sold to steel,
mining,
and turpentine factories where they became indentured servants, chained,
whipped, humiliated as much as any pre-Lincoln slave had endured.
Blackmon's book is well documented. He has a website, too, to supplement
and update his book at www.slaverybyanothername.com. 11/10/08
- Smoking Gun. Owned by
Court TV. Claims to uncover documentation exposing controversial issues.
5/16/05.
- Spirit of Change, newspaper-type
publication about alternative, new-age health treatments. 7/7/06
- Spiritualism. Can the living communicate with the dead? Good introduction
to this field is Raymond Buckland's The
Spirit Book ( Encyclopedia of clairvoyance, channeling and spirit
communication), copyright 2006. Wikipedia
describes spiritualism.Skeptically.org
offers articles on spiritualism. Tricks
of fraudulent mediums once exposed led to the decline of spiritualism.
The Skeptics
Report -- for more on fraudulent mediums in the 19th and 20th
centuries. The Skeptics Dictionary
pokes holes in the integrity of mediums -- those who claim they can
communicate with the dead. Biographical
information about the author of the Skeptic Dictionary. In checking
out online resources on spiritualism, I stumbled across the Tampa
Bay Skeptics site which holds special interest for me because
I am from the Florida Tampa Bay area. Still another source, this one
from California Tampa
Bay Skeptics.
- Tony Snow. Radio
commentator on the Fox Network. I first heard Tony commenting on the
news on February 3, 2003 and found him very interesting. 2/3/06
- Sun -- England's most popular
tabloid newspaper. 8/3/04
- TruthDig.From
the publisher: "The purpose of our new Web magazine is to provide
you with insightful and accurate reporting on current subjects and
on issues that need to be brought to your attention." 10/22/06
- Unclassified
government documents from the National Security Archive at George
Washington University. These documents made available to the public
thanks to the The
Freedom of Information Act . See, for example, unclassified documents
on the Bay
of Pigs Invasion. 2/25/06
- Unexplained Mysteries.
Paranormal, conspiracy theories. Includes articles on UFOs, reincarnation,
ghosts, and voodoo. 3/26/05
- Crime Fighting
- Background check from Intelius.
This in NOT free. Can do background check including criminal records
for both State ($19.95) and Federal ($49.95) records. See this facts
page about this site. Check out reviews of People-Search sites
that provide information ranging from phone numbers to criminal records
-- from MediaChoice,
Inc. - People Search. 5/20/05
- CIA Central Intelligence Agency
8/4/02
- Crime Library. True stories
of famous criminals, including information on how science helped to
nail the most dastardly villains. 8/4/04
- Crime
Tracker from Tampa Bay (Florida) online. Crime statistics, amber
alerts, sexual predator and inmate search, stolen car information,
missing children.4/16/05
- Federal
Bureau of Investigation. Information on current cases such as
the ongoing FBI investigation of the the Centennial Park bombing in
Atlanta. Also information on the FBI's most wanted. 8/4/02
- Florida
Department of Law Enforcement.
Offers reward for most wanted. Provides links to information on sexual
predators, missing children, amber alert, background checks, unsolved
homicides, stolen property and more. 3/25/05
- Homeland
Security. 8/4/04
- Identity theft.
°Federal Trade Commission
shows you what to do if you think your identity has been stolen.
°Protecting yourself from Identity Theft from the attorney
general's office of the State of Pennsylvania. Includes information
on contacting the four major credit agencies.
°Links to several sites from the U.S.
Department of Justice. 5/21/05
- Most
wanted criminals. Help capture Americas most wanted. 8/4/04
- 9/11
Commission's Report. 8/4/04
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