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The Front Pages of Christopher P. Winter

Dilemmas & Digressions

John Lennon said "Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans." I prefer coherent thoughts, coherent actions, coherent structures. Unfortunately for my preferences, life is not very coherent. This section of my Web site is where I'll put the stuff that doesn't fit with my plans for it, yet is worth including.

The first of these that happened to me spawned a story that should delight any geek — or at least those who don't look askance at three-generations-removed hardware. It's about how I managed to acquire a computer workstation for minimal money and upgrade it with more memory and a second CPU.

Later, I got involved in an on-line discussion about the merits of nuclear power. (I believe it has some.) I decided that I should learn more about what I already knew was its checkered history. The section on nuclear accidents is the result.

When Wikipedia came along, I did some editing on certain of its articles. I probably should not have been surprised when those articles became controversial. It is an age when a large segment of the American population regards facts themselves as bogus assertions made by some nefarious opposition. Which perception, of course, demands that they assert their own "facts" in order to restore "balance." It's unfortunate, but Wikipedia has become a battleground in this struggle.

Which brings me to global warming. As I dug into this, I became amazed at the prevalence and persistence of "facts" which had long been debunked. The warming itself is enough of a dilemma. We don't need another dilemma piled on top — with or without hand-picked "cherries."

Topic Description Date added
Aboriginal Peoples Today We palefaces are treating them better than in the past, but not well enough. 17 Oct 2015
Abortion in America Long a controversial wedge issue, access to lgeal abortion has fallen under threat with the release of a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito and a conservative SCOTUS likely to nullify Roe v. Wade by the end of this term. 03 Jun 2022
Accidents
involving
Nuclear
Energy
As global warming looks ever more real, nuclear fission is an energy option that looks ever more vital. The dilemma is the need to confine and shield the fission process, especially the virulent, long-lived waste it produces. Here's some ongoing research into how well we're doing with that. 05 Jun 2005
Global
Pandemics
Discussion and resources about pandemics, to get you started on the topic — and espcially the complex dilemma involving medical and political ramifications of COVID-19. 17 May 2020
Global
Warming
So many scientists cannot be wrong, after so many years. Not about the basics. Here's why. 12 Apr 2009
Israel & Palestine What do Israel's actions in the conflict started by Hamas on 7 October 2023 say about the nature of "the only democracy in the Middle East" — and about its future? Here are some background references and some facts about the current conflict. 26 Jan 2024
Judge Brett Kavanaugh .Hearings on Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court will soon begin. I think he should not be confirmed. Here's why. 27 Aug 2018
Today's Tardy Web When the World Wide Web was new, pages loaded in mere seconds. Today? Not hardly. 21 Jan 2019
Trump The new occupant of the Oval Office has a long way to go to prove his worth.1 23 Jan 2017
Upgrading
the HP
Kayak
Read about how I accessed my inner geek2 and figured out how to add a second CPU to a Kayak. 04 Aug 2005
Ukraine
Invaded
Abandoning the Minsk Agreement — and his own pledges — Dictator Putin yesterday began his invasion of Ukraine. 24 Feb 2022
What's
Wrong with
Wikipedia?
As a sometime editor of articles on Wikipedia, "The Online Encyclopedia Anyone Can Edit," I investigate its quality issues. 10 Oct 2006
1 I frankly don't think he can get there.
2 My inner geek is never far from the surface...
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This page was last modified on 26 March 2024.